Extreme Trailer Bunk Brackets Rusty

[fongest]

Hi Crew - Its time to replace my trailer bunk carpet and noticed that the brackets have rust on them. Id like to replace them. Has anyone done this?  Any solid bolt on brackets or is this gonna be a weld job?  Any ideas and experiences would be very welcomed.

Thanks in advanced.

Fong

[Bozboat]

I had mine reworked a few years ago. To put it back like it was will be a weld job. Hard part is finding a place to park the boat while the trailer is undergoing repairs.

[oldjeep]

How bad are they?  Cutting welded brackets off a frame and then rewelding in the same location is always a crap shoot since you risk the metal being weakened in the area they were welded on (assuming they did a good job of welding them)

If it is just a bunch of crusty surface rust and isn't structurally bad, just wire wheel them and repaint, or leave the rust on and use a rust conversion product like silver bullet or POR 15 and then paint.

[Raleigh]

20 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

How bad are they?  Cutting welded brackets off a frame and then rewelding in the same location is always a crap shoot since you risk the metal being weakened in the area they were welded on (assuming they did a good job of welding them)

If it is just a bunch of crusty surface rust and isn't structurally bad, just wire wheel them and repaint, or leave the rust on and use a rust conversion product like silver bullet or POR 15 and then paint.

Which is the preferred method? Rust conversion or rust removal and repaint? 

[oldjeep]

12 minutes ago, Raleigh said:

Which is the preferred method? Rust conversion or rust removal and repaint? 

My preferred method is rust conversion since it can be tough to grind/sand all the rust off.   You just wire brush off any loose stuff and then put it right onto the rust - which reacts with the rust converting paint. 

[Eagleboy99]

25 minutes ago, oldjeep said:

My preferred method is rust conversion since it can be tough to grind/sand all the rust off.   You just wire brush off any loose stuff and then put it right onto the rust - which reacts with the rust converting paint. 

I tried a can of that spray-on rust converter and was quite disappointed in it.  Not much conversion from rust.  Any particular brand you recommend?

[oldjeep]

26 minutes ago, Eagleboy99 said:

I tried a can of that spray-on rust converter and was quite disappointed in it.  Not much conversion from rust.  Any particular brand you recommend?

Rust bullet or POR 15