What Paint for a fiberglass trailer?

[Gary Lynch]

What is the most economical yet durable paint for a fiberglass trailer? Epoxy, enamel, urethane, or acrylic?

[Gina D.]

I used an enamal on mine. It's glossy, but with a texture, and has held up well.

It's only been 6 mos. or so tho.

[Gary Lynch]

I tried to find information on trailer paint but most of it deals with boat paint on fiberglass. One automotive paint store said the way to go was 100% acrylic because of it's flexible properties. But yesterday I went to a paint and body shop and the owner said he would paint my egg on Monday. He wants to use a commercial grade of enamel. I was under the impression enamel was to rigid or stiff of a product but what do I know?

What is a Corvette body painted with? They are fiberglass and the paint holds up well.

[Chester Taje]

I painted my Old Compact J with a product called (Tremclad)The instuctions said Metal and Fiberglass.As far as I am concerned it went on good and still to this day looks good.I beleive the American equlivent is (Rustoleum)SP

[Gary Lynch]

Interesting. I assume that would be an enamel paint? The top of the Burro is really flexible. You really cannot lean on it while working up there or it gives way and makes you feel like you can damage the fiberglass. And I suppose while trailering these units a lot of flex occurs.

[Chester Taje]

Interesting. I assume that would be an enamel paint? The top of the Burro is really flexible. You really cannot lean on it while working up there or it gives way and makes you feel like you can damage the fiberglass. And I suppose while trailering these units a lot of flex occurs.

In my case YES

[Benny K]

I tried to find information on trailer paint but most of it deals with boat paint on fiberglass. One automotive paint store said the way to go was 100% acrylic because of it's flexible properties. But yesterday I went to a paint and body shop and the owner said he would paint my egg on Monday. He wants to use a commercial grade of enamel. I was under the impression enamel was to rigid or stiff of a product but what do I know?

What is a Corvette body painted with? They are fiberglass and the paint holds up well.

Howdy, My son`s Vette was shot with a base/clear automotive paint after we`d prepped it and the paint on the plastic bumpers had an additive added to make it more flexible although I`ve seen Vettes with spider web checking on the fiberglass which could be from impacting with something......there are some painters on the site so maybe we`ll hear from them.....Benny

[Gina D.]

Your Vette question is a logical one. And thats the first place I went when looking to have mine painted by a pro. They didn't have a clue! (Or didn't want to bother)

The boat folks were not at all helpful either. I finally resorted to an airplane supply place, and they put me on to PPG paints.

Mine is a house paint. Exterior, so it was probably formulated to put up with expanding and contracting of wood from weather.

[DAVID K]

Acrlic enamel is fine with a flexerizer added.Shoot a coat of clear and give it that wet look.

[Gary Lynch]

DAVID K

Thank you for the information. I was just reading about the additives. That's what I will use.

[Ronny W]

Ive been looking into wether some of that pickup bedliner rubbery tough paint would stick to fiberglass very well? They say its extremely tough(good for those gravel roads where branches are sticking out) They say it stays flexable (wont crack), comes in almost any color, can be aplied nearly any thickness you like, Insulates(another great quality) and can be made with or without that traction grippy stuff in it.

Im thinking that if it sticks so well to painted sheet metal that has only been lightly sanded and cleaned that it should be able to stick to sanded cleaned fiberglass

If i find a brand i like im going to try a small aria upfront like a gravel guard. I will poast my findings....


The bad points ive been reading about are some (cheaper)brands get kinda gooey in the sun, can fade in the sun also. And even the cheaper brands arent very cheap at all.

I have seen some awefully beatup pickups with big dents in the beds and the only paint on them that still looks good is the spray on bedliner stuff?

has anyone else thought about or tried this stuff? Have it in your pickup... hows it working for you? Thanks

[Chester Taje]

I tried some on my 13ft Boler.For me it did not go on the way I wanted.I found it hard to work with.I finnaly scraped it off.Lost a few dollars there and lots of time.

In my search, I ran across a guy that painted a 1970 Trillium. He used a polyurathane paint in 1977. If I didn't see it for myself, I wouldn't have believed it, but this paint looked new. He said that he never even polished or waxed it in all those years! At that time, it was (and probably still is) the most expensivce paint. But, almost 30 YEARS! -Wow. I am impressed.

By the way, I ran across a website of interest for those looking for new Trilliums.

TrilliumRV.com

[Chester Taje]

Hi Jerry and Welcome-------Good info.Thanks

[Gary Lynch]

Out here they call the bed liner material, 'Rhino Lining' My wife has it on the bed of the truck she pulls the horse trailer with. It is extremely durable. But I read on line do not use a dark color on fiberglass because it absorbs the sun and expands and also contracts to much and can ruin the fiberglass integrity.

[Gina D.]

I also looked at that as an alternative when painting mine. Just lifting the box required a crane, so I decided against it. I thought it might add too much weight to the rig.

It does look like it would be a good alternative tho, for those that can spare the weight problem!

[Donna D.]

humm, all the spray on bedliners I've ever seen used are nice looking UNTIL they get dirty. Acid rain, road rash, etc. causes the black to turn a dirty black/brown and the white more of a beige color. It's acceptable for a truck used to hauling stuff, but the front of my trailer...not a chance.

If protecting the front of the trailer from flying rocks and debris was important, I'd consider something like these mud flaps: Road Wing Mud Flaps on my tug. If I was only going to pull the trailer down a freeway vs off-road, I could leave them home for that trip.

I agree with Gina 100%....the spray on stuff is HEAVY. I purchased some DIY stuff that goes on good and sprayed the inside of the front fenders of my classic tug...the difference in weight for those fenders before and after is a bunch!

The attached pic shows these mud flaps on a stand for displaying.

[Gina D.]

Wet weight isn't the concern. After hefting the small can at the store, and realizing there was a substantial bit more particulate and mass to this than plain old watery paint, I went a lookin'. I did research and saw this quote on Rhino Liners site.

Q. How much weight is added to my truck?
A. Your Rhino Lining will add between 45 and 65 lbs to the weight of your truck depending on the size of your truck bed.

I figured a rough estimate that my trailers surface was at least 3 large truck bed surfaces. I wouldn't want to add almost 200lbs to my rig.

Haven't weighed my egg since I painted it, but since it took a little less tha 2 gallons, I suspect I may have added a max of 15 lbs, if that.

[Nancy in Oregon]

We had our trailer painted by a paintshop that handles Vettes. They looked for the hairline cracks like were mentioned before. They made some repairs and then used a Tri-Coat paint to paint it and used a clear top coat over all.

Nancy

[MKohlman]

We had our Burro painted this summer with an Automotive Enamel topped by a Clear Coat. So far I've got no complaints...

As for Bedliner-type coatings, I recoated the underside and frame the year before with POR15 followed by Herculiner. Easily the messiest, nastiest job I've ever done. The Herculiner has had some fade over the least two seasons but overall has held up very well.