wrenchtech

I was doing some work on my trailer the other day when I realized that it has been four or five years since I sanded some rust off the fenders and coated them with primer. Primer is not supposed to act as a finish coat, but that is what it has been doing. I am amazed that there is absolutely zero return of rust and that the primer looks as good now as it did when I put it down. And consider the fact that this trailer has sat outdoors every day for those four or five years. And what primer is it you might ask. It is Rust-oleum Rusty Metal primer sprayed from a rattle can. Before I sprayed the fenders I sanded them down to bare metal and etched them with a product called Must-for-Rust, which is also a Rust- oleum product. Now I am thinking that I may use this primer on the frame and rear axle housing of my 1993 Xtra Cab instead of an expensive epoxy primer. I will probably follow that up with a top coat of another Rust-oleum product. The only concern I have is that it may have a lower resistance to chipping from road debris, but I think the savings warrant experimentation.

Rusty Metal Primer
https://www.rustoleum.com/product-ca...-metal-primer/

Must-for-Rust
https://www.rustoleum.com/product-ca...-and-inhibitor

wrenchtech

I did a little more reading and discovered that Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer is an oil modified alkyd. That is a pretty old-school paint material. Perhaps it has been modified with other ingredients to give it better properties. Some years ago, I painted another truck axle with a product called X-O Rust, which is a True Value Hardware paint with similar characteristics as Rustoleum. With virtually no preparation I got a finish that lasted through five years on the road and another eight years under the vehicle stored outdoors. With proper preparation of the surfaces to be painted, I'm thinking it could provided durable finish.

If anybody else has experience with these products, I would be interested to hear about it.