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Painting a hitch in the rustbelt

RootBreaker

RootBreaker

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Ok so I bought a hitch 15+ years ago. I knew it came from a chevy but guy didn't know what year. It hung too low on my truck so I just recently got off my lazy ass and ground the welds, removed bolts and took it apart. I then bolted the sides on the truck and moved the center section where I wanted it. Drilled holes, bolted it back together and welded up.

I wire wheeled it and it is ready for primer and paint. Curious what people use. Just plain primer and a mess of coats of black rustoleum???

2017-04-07_10-20-00 by Jeffrey Riggs, on Flickr


Ready for paint by Jeffrey Riggs, on Flickr
 
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As long as it doesn't get scratched about anything will work. Prime it out well, and apply some rustoleum industrial enamel. Home Depot sells it in spray cans for railings and whatnot. It has a good quality hardener in it.
 
Vombrown said:
As long as it doesn't get scratched about anything will work. Prime it out well, and apply some rustoleum industrial enamel. Home Depot sells it in spray cans for railings and whatnot. It has a good quality hardener in it.
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hah it sits under a truck.. and will get drug on the ground on an incline... It will get scratched... I was reading up and some people powder coat, some just prime/paint and some por15 it.. was just curious consensus here...
 
Rusty metal primer and what Vombrown said. Can't be ant worse than the shit they use from the factory. Never saw a hitch that had paint that stuck from the factory,
 
If it's going to get scrubbed on rocks and whatnot powder coat isn't going to help either. I would just paint it as well as you can and touch it up from time to time.
 
I've seen a ton of powder coated trailer hitches that peeled the coating off and rotted away under what coating stuck,made the hitch crumble to dust...stuff like Plasti-Dip does much the same thing after awhile too..

POR-15 is good for parts not exposed to sunlight,if you top coated it it will last much longer..I have tried lots of paints and coatings and that stuff seems to last the longest..."regular" Rustoleum is good but must be re-coated every year or so...I find the aluminum paint they sell for chain link fences and metal buildings lasts a long time against rust--so does spray on galvanized coating,or the asphalt based silver roof coatings you can get at home centers normally used on metal roofs or mobile homes..
 
I have not yet tried bedliner on anything under my vehicles--my thoughts are it will be just like powder coating--one small pit peels off eventually and will let moisture get trapped under the liner and rot the steel..

There are some really good coatings used for things like bridges and steel exposed to the elements like zinc chromate,but many of them aren't as good as they used to be due to environmental laws--POR-15 and Rust Bullet type stuff has worked best on things I used it on..they aren't cheap though,a pint goes for over 20 bucks,but brushing it on,will cover a lot of area..
 
Imron IS some really tough coating,but the bummer is I think the smallest amount you can get is a quart,and it requires a special hardener--its also extremely deadly if inhaled,you need a good respirator with the right filters to spray it--you may not have luck getting a paint supplier to sell it to the "average Joe"also,its labeled for "Industrial use only by licensed professionals"...

In other words,the store can get in legal trouble should some unlicensed person get hold of it and end up sick because of it..

One way around that would be to bring the hitch to a body shop and have them apply it--but the Imron and charges for labor will exceed the price of another new trailer hitch--maybe two!..

I used to mix Imron back in the late 80's,and we were instructed to only sell any to body shops ,not just anyone who walked in..back then a quart of it with the hardener was close to 65 bucks,I am betting it is a lot more now..several of the guys I sold Imron too developed serious diseases like MS,cancer,emphasema,and many of them have died--some pretty young too..

The stuff is durable though,I still see concrete mixer trucks in the town I sold the company the Imron still looking nice some 30 years later...and they pressure wash or steam clean those trucks quite often..
 
If its not powder coat, its gotta be POR15.
And any powdercoat that came on a part when purchased is normally crap. The independant coaters out there do better work. (Hitch in rust belt might be hardest to save lol)
 
The title of this thread needs to be changed to "Painting is a b**** in the rusrbelt"
 
If you decide on a good finish, it will have to be sandblasted first. I've had much more success with powdercoat than POR-15. Honestly, call around and see if what local coaters can do, since it's a removable part and you're not on an urgent timeline. Somebody may be able to hot zinc dip it or give you a good deal by waiting for other parts to show up needing finish.
 
I Use the rusty metal Primer to Kill the rust. Then I use a good undercoating over in a couple of coats. Usually lasts pretty good.
 
Why not just use a $3 can of flat black and keep a spare for when it gets rusty or scratched. Touch it up as required.
 
Smokinthehippies said:
Why not just use a $3 can of flat black and keep a spare for when it gets rusty or scratched. Touch it up as required.
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It all depends. Sounds like he wants it to stay looking nice for awhile without messing with rust. Since he already sanded out any bad spots and redid the mounts. I have done it that way in the past and it doesn't last very long if you don't kill the rust under the paint to begin with.
 
Smokinthehippies said:
Why not just use a $3 can of flat black and keep a spare for when it gets rusty or scratched. Touch it up as required.
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I hear this all the time, but don't understand it. How many times a winter do you wash your truck, get it home clean, towel dry, sand out the bad spots, mask stuff off and spray new paint, all while below freezing? Isn't the real plan to put something on that doesn't need constant attention?
 
I guess in my mind I don't see it getting beat to shit all winter long. But I also don't tow a lot. Good primer and a decent rattle can job doesn't just flake off every 5 minutes.
 
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