[turtle1173]

I just got a new-to-me trailer and I really need to make some adjustments to the bunks.

What connects the bunks to the trailer is basically a large screw (for each connection point). There's a nut above the bracket and a nut below the bracket.

Most of these connectors are caked up with rust/ build-up. Is there a product that will dissolve this relatively easily?

I've tried PB Blaster but that's just not cutting through this stuff. Looking for some ideas.

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

The last I knew, you couldn't dissolve rust, but you can break it apart. The only thing I can think of would be to use a grinder to knock it off the area.

Ray

 

[Guest]

Won't naval jelly eat that rust? Don't know if they still make that stuff or not but I thought I used to be able to get it at Wal-Mart or the local napa store. It stinks and is messy though and you might be better off just grinding it clean or knocking the loose stuff off with a brush and soaking the bolts and suck with some kind of a penetrant.

 

[fwmud]

I'd say it's according to how rusted the bolts are. Mine had been in salt water so they were bad off. In my case, I used a sawzall and just cut them off one at a time and replaced them.
My first choice would be a wire wheel placed in a side grinder or drill and see if that would work.

 

[dudlbugr]

Shane,

The wire wheel is probably your best choice. After that, with WD40 (use # 1?), You may still be able to use a wrench and back the nuts off. Naval jelly might help, but not "right now". Maybe overnight?
Good luck with them. I redid some of my bunks on my old trailer several years ago, and I just cut them off with a torch.

 

[bluegrasspicker49]

after you get rid of those rusted bolt replace them with stainless nuts and bolt , you wont have to worry about rust , i work in awaste water plant and we have to use stainless expensive but rust wont hurt them good lock

 

[dudlbugr]

Good advice, Bluegrasspicker! I went with stainless on mine. Funny, though. About a year and a half later, I got a new boat and trailer, and have since removed the bunks from the trailer to make an ATV trailer out of it! Still, the stainless is more expensive than steel, but not prohibitively so. I'd go with stainless, Shane.

 

[muskyman]

I got an awesome deal on an old trailer with my old boat. It was a bit rusty in some spots, just as you described, below where the bunk boards fittings attach to the trailer. I sprayed them with rustoleum rust remover and then I used the grinder and really gave it a good one. When I was done with the trailer, I re-painted it with a primer rustoleum and the final coat was rustoleum paint as well. I saw that trailer recently and the guy who has it keeps it outdoors. The paintjob looks just fine with the only marks due to the paint being chipped off by rocks and whatever else. I think the key in removing the rust is to get way down below it and remove ALL existing rust. Go the extra mile and use the elbow grease dude, it will be worth it in the long run. Hey, I heard once that rust is like an organism of some sort , like alive or some crap like that. Is this true ?

 

[Phil Washburn]

no such thing as dissolving rust...

 

[Mark J]

Stainless wont rust as long as there is air movement around it.

Take a stainless bolt and attach your outboard through the transom with it.
It will rust and and corrode in the transom.

The only exception I can think of where stainless will rust in free air is in a hog house. The ammonia will eat it up.

If the rust is that bad on those bolts the threads probally arent much good.

 

[joesf]

Rust is like ash. When you burn wood you cause a chemical reaction that makes the ash. Rust is the same thing when ferrous metal oxidizes it leaves behind rust. The only cure is to seal out the air. I have seen this done in several ways. At work we use a product call rust veto it is basically just low grade kerosene with some additives. Then at a previous job we use to clean all out plows and disk and coat them with grease. Probably your best solution is to clean them with a wire wheel to remove the bulk, then use some naval jelly and Scott's green scour pad to polish. Then paint them or powder coat them.

 

[jtrew]

While Naval Jelly does a pretty good job of removing rust, I've not had much getting rusted nuts & bolts loose with it. The best thing I've ever found for that is to get a torch and heat the nut/bolt till it's bright red hot. Let it cool, and it should unscrew.

 

[BassMassey]

would naval jelly work for the underside of my lincoln?? lol, or should i just let it be?? i got it down here in georgia now so no more harsh winters

 

[jtrew]

You could probably buy a new Lincoln for what it would cost for enough Naval Jelly to do a job that size. Maybe sandblasting would help?

 

[BKS72]

Dunno about getting the rust off, if you're in a hurry, the sawzall idea sounds like the way to go. Unless I can't a tool to it or it's not a through bolt (like a water pump bolt, for example), I just cut them. I have used Kroil on a ball joint, but it took spraying and hitting it every day for about 2 weeks before it finally loosened up enough to come loose. You're going to replace them anyway, so cutting or grinding the head off would work. Never-sieze might work when you replace them,to keep them from rusting up, just be sure to use a lock washer, whiz nut, or some other kind of locking hardware.

 

[peewee williams]

The closest thing that I know to a rust killer or remover,is Phosphoric Acid.After chipping,grinding,sandblasting and wire brushing,you painted on the phosphoric acid,rinsed with clean water,let dry and painted your steel.For aluminum,you use vinegar,or weak muridic (?spelling ?)acid.Also,aluminum and stainless steel bolts,nuts and screws do not hold well,where there is vibration.Many times,you will find that all types of lockwashers are useless.On CLEAN THREADS,pure silicone sealers and caulking,seam to hold great.I have tried it side by side with some of the "thread locking" compounds.Seemed to hold as good or better,where vibration,and not heavy stress or recoil was present.I have some screws that have held for over 25 years,in my aluminum boat,AFTER I siliconed them.These are old time paper mill and chemical plant method;s.peewee-williams

 

[T-Bone]

I'm a lil late getting on this thread. And I hope I don't get in trouble for using the product name,however, you asked about a rust killer. There is a great product called "One-Step" made by Mar-Hyde. This product can be found at a body shop supply place. All you have to do is loosen the rust up (get the flakes off). Say you want to repaint a rusty trailer. Clean up the metal and get the loose rust off. Take a spray can or spray gun with a plastic cup and spray One-Step in three thin coats about two minutes apart, let it flash off for twelve to twentyfour hours and the One-Step turns into a black primer that you can top coat with any kind of paint. One-Step will "Kill" the rust and convert it into a primer. This is a great way to stop the rust from coming back.

 

[Individualist]

Heat the nut where the screws are threaded into. Mapp gas is the best if you don't have access to a welding torch. Propane might work, but mapp burns much hotter. Get the nut red hot but not too long with the heat or the threaded screw will expand also.