Painted Aluminum Horse Trailer - Help a gal out!

[horsechick101]

Hi, new to the forums, you all seem like the most helpful folks so I joined...so, please...HELP ME!

The details:

• 2004 gooseneck horse trailer [my first aluminum trailer]
• painted white aluminum [how does one know if its baked on?]

Trailer seems dull - upon contact with my hand, it feels "chalky" - leaves a sort of light powdery residue on my fingertips when I rub the surface.
The paint is NOT rubbing off. It's just very....chalky feeling :lol: It's my understanding that the chalky feeling is normal oxidization of the aluminum.

Last summer, I wanted to clean the black streaky **** off the trailer from underneath the windows. Used some orange cleaner in a spray bottle.
It cleaned it all right...any shine that was left on the trailer came off with the streaks, and although its less chalky feeling in those places, it's also noticeably more dull looking.

Once I realized that the cleaner was stripping the shine from the trailer, I discontinued using it, so really, half the trailer is still shiny, while half is dull. Nobody notices it but me, but its because I *know* what I did

My questions:

• How do I go about restoring some semblance of shine to my white trailer? Polish? Wax? What is the difference? Be specific - this is ALL new to me!

Okay, I thought I had more questions...but really, that's what I want to do - make the trailer not so chalky feeling and dull looking.

Photo of the trailer:

HELP!

[horsechick101]

Re: Painted Aluminum Horse Trailer - Help a gal out!

While I'm thinking of it...

Anything that would help make the fenders, running boards, along the roof sides, and that piece to the left of the spare tire look less dull?

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Painted Aluminum Horse Trailer - Help a gal out!

Welcome to MOL!!

Let's address the white painted areas first. What you're dealing with is a single stage white paint, meaning there is no clear coat on it. So what you're feeling with that white chalkiness you described is, in fact, oxidized paint and not oxidized aluminum. You can't reach the aluminum because it's covered with paint. We are always working on the top surface, in this case paint, so what's underneath really isn't terribly important. So, how do you remedy this and make the paint shiny again? It's pretty straightforward, really, but not really something you want to do by hand. Yes, you can do it by hand, but it's going to be a lot of work. A. Lot.

A typical wax alone won't fix the issue. Wax is for the final protection after the issue has been fixed. Unless, of course, you're using a very strong cleaner wax and a dual action polisher (like our own MT300 or similar) to apply it with. A powerful cleaner wax will contain very minute abrasive particles, similar to what you'd find in a compound, that quite literally abrade the surface, removing the oxidized material and restoring the gloss by leveling the material (ie, paint). Gloss comes from smoothness and flatness, and with all that chalky junk on the surface, it's anything but smooth and flat. So that has to go, either with a compound or a finishing polish (think diet compound, for lack of a better analogy) and then you can apply a good wax, preferably synthetic, to give long lasting protection.

A couple of years ago I buffed out a neighbor's single stage white Dodge Sprinter Van. Same chalky mess as you've got here but I got the kind of result I think you're looking for. And I did with just White Wax. That's because White Wax uses the same abrasive set as our M101 professional compound, just not as high a concentration. So it cuts like mad, especially when coupled with machine application. Check out this thread for the process and before/after pix plus a video that shows the dramatic difference. Now, White Wax may be awesome when it comes to cut, but the protection it leaves behind is primarily carnauba, so it's not going to be as durable as a good synthetic wax. So in this case, I followed up with our D156 Synthetic Express Spray Wax (same thing, basically, as our Ultimate Quik Wax which is more readily available). This is literally a super simple spray and wipe and you're done application. Perfect for something as big as a Sprinter Van, your horse trailer, or the WWII B24 bomber we've done. Three times.

As for the finish on the running boards, fender and around the top of the trailer, that's a different story. I'm assuming it's different than the highly reflective nose of the trailer, but I'm not sure if the duller areas were ever as shiny as the nose cone. I'd have to see them a bit closer up, or maybe someone here has closer knowledge of the actual materials used on a trailer like this. Metal polishing is fairly straightforward as well, though often more time consuming and definitely messier. As in seriously dirty work.

Hope that gets you started!!