Dougw wrote:
A couple of things to consider:
Powder coating does not adhere well to "black" cold rolled or hot rolled steel that most manufacturers use. It should be zinc coated steel or sand blasted to remove the black scale if you want the powder coating to adhere properly and last. The best exterior grade powder paints available on the market are only guaranteed for 5 years. Most mild steel painted trailers rust from the inside out. If the trailer will be stored outdoors consider going with aluminum or galvanized trailer to eliminate premature fading and rusting. Go with aluminum, plastic, or galvanized fenders. They take a beating from stone chips and anything painted will be rusting in no time.
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1114This is exactly where shoreland'r shines (pun intended)...they take great care to clean and treat ALL the steel parts before it hits their multi million dollar powder coating booth. They use a powder formula that stays soft to absorb impact from road debris....no big flakes from stone chips.
They also use a fully grounded wiring harness with waterproof connectors...and each light has a pigtail and connector so you can simply plug a new light in if you break one (no scotch locks or butt connectors). The harness grounds every light back to the harness NOT the frame.
The frames are also robot welded. All plastic parts molded in house. Stainless sleeves on axle where the hub seal rides. Stainless bearing buddies. Covered winch with integrated tongue jack (tongue jack bolts won't dig into your shin).
On and on....but they are expensive....but they are the best built trailer. If you want more info I have it lol. I've been to a bunch of the factories and I can tell you that shoreland'r's powder booth is larger than most "factories".