Exterior Detailing > Metal Polishing
Trailer Fender
Kitzy:
I've spent the past week at work getting ready for the new season. One of our trailers really needed some work and still does but that's another story. This fender has taken such a beating in it's short life. Our shop is a decent sized two bay garage but the small alley leading to it is tight so pulling in with a 20 foot enclosed trailer isn't exactly easy. Now I've never hit anything with the trailer myself. I just feel the need to point that out. Anyway, another guy is driving and I rode shotgun which is rare. Approaching the turn into the alley he doesn't swing it wide enough and I say to him "I don't think you went wide enough." His response, "No? You don't think?" and continues to try and make the turn so I said I guess we'll find out. He wasn't even close to making it as he creams this boulder in someone's yard (which was put their for that purpose, to make our lives hell because they don't like us.) Dented the wheel which caused the tire to lose air (fixed with a BFH) and did a number on the fender. Two years prior to that, another guy turned out of an alley and caught a street sign and destroyed it and did a number on the fender as well. Last year I was driving the trailer down the turnpike and blew a tire damaging the fender and leaving awesome rubber marks all over it. Always the same fender. I had the fender off for something so decided to try and improve it. A lot of banging with a hammer and odd shaped metal piecesand clamps, a bit of Optimum polish on #0000 steel wool and this is what you get.
The polishing took all of two minutes. I didn't refine it any more after the steel wool because the steel wool allowed it to retain it's satin look just like it came from the factory. They're not perfect. They're still dented and have a lot of deep scratches on the ends of the arches. I'm no body shop guy I just wanted to impove them. The pics are from my phone which is why they suck. This was a last second idea. EDIT - Hm, I just realized I didn't even take a picture of the worst part before or after. The far side in the after pictures is where I did all the work on reshaping the fender. Maybe I can go run something over and redo it.
texbigred1:
looks new to me!
I dont like people who act like they know how to pull a trialer you can point them out by the bent bumpers and tail gates
or in this case the tore up trialer
Kitzy:
It's funny. I used to always refuse to pull the trailer. I was scared I'd screw up. Then the company I work for pretty much rented me out to another company with some our equipment so I had no choice. I had to pull the trailer. I was so nervous. I thought I was going to pull up to another company full of guys I didn't know and do something stupid. :biglaugh: It was an hour and a half drive away no less. Since then I have been the guy to pull the trailer all the time. Where our shop is it is really tight to get the trailer in to the garage. I don't know what I was thinking but I thought I'd give it a go by myself one day. To my surprise I got it in fairly easy. My boss was really impressed and actualyl couldn't figure out how I got it in the shop. A couple months later he tried and hit the wall and damaged the back of the trailer a bit. Yet another guy in the company tried to pull it in the other bay which is probably 100x easier because you can almost back in straight in where you can't on the side I backed it in, and he hit something and he had someone watching him and a CDL-A and used to drive for a living. Something tells me I've just been lucky so far.
Tdub:
:NW: :NW:
Fender looks great!
texbigred1:
backing up trailers to me is easy except small trailer like a 4x6 single axle i just take it off the truck and push it where i want it.
We have a 32ft enclosed car hauler we were going to a drag race and i went downt he wrong road which turned in to a dirt road dead end so i had to back the hauler up over a mile to get back out of the road. talk about a pain.
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