Although aluminum trailers generally require less maintenance than their steel counterparts due to their immunity to rust, they still need to be cleaned once in awhile to mitigate other types of corrosion. Additionally, if you want your trailer to always shine as brightly as it did when it was new, you'll need to give it a thorough acid bath every few years. While you're giving this acid bath to your aluminum trailer, remember to avoid these three pitfalls.
Pouring The Acid Directly Out Of The Bottle
The entirety of your aluminum trailer's surface should be covered in an unbroken but relatively thin coating of hydrofluoric acid. Letting too much of the liquid rest on any particular area could cause very stubborn and dark burns to form.
Spreading the acid smoothly is almost impossible if you're just pouring it out of the bottle directly. Instead, pour the acid on a thick cleaning cloth with lots of rough fibers. You should also wear a good pair of rubber gloves to prevent damage to your hands.
Using A Hose With An Inadequate Water Pressure Capacity For Rinsing
You only need to leave the acid on your trailer for a short time to maximize the aluminum's sheen. After that, any traces of the substance you fail to clean up will only be able to cause harm.
If you want to be sure that you're removing every last drop of acid, an ordinary garden hose is inadequate. Instead, use a rented pressure washer and keep the nozzle close to the surface of your trailer to ensure that no bit of acid fails to wash away when you point at it.
Not Polishing The Trailer With Wax Immediately Afterwards
Once your aluminum trailer has a very impressive shine, letting the first patch of rough weather cause damage to it would be a real shame. Therefore, once you've given the trailer an adequate amount of time to dry out in the sun, give the aluminum a good polishing with a brand of wax that's specially designed to go on the metal.
When you're buffing the trailer, spend an especially long period of time on sharp corners and the coupler in front of the ramp. A coat that's not perfectly consistent on all areas of the trailer is very vulnerable to erosion via rain and snow.
Even if you don't use your trailer directly in commercial activities, keeping it in optimal condition will reflect well on your character as a hard and diligent worker. Besides, doing maintenance work now will increase the potential resale value of the unit and guard against hard to fix problems like chronic oxidation. Talk to a company like Hillsboro Industries to learn more about aluminum trailers and proper maintenance.
Share27 June 2016
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