www.iFourWinns.com

Was told by a friend not to put my trailer in salt water due to corrision issues. Prior trailer was aluminum and galvanized and I had no problems, but I do not want to ruin this new trailer. What do ya'll think?

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2008 H220SS
VP 5.7 320 HP, DP
2010 Chevy Silverado Z71

Mine has minor rust spots already and has only been in fresh water so that must tell you something.

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1998 Baja Boss 252 7.4L MPI Bravo 1 (SOLD)
2007 FW H200SS 5.0GXI (Sold)
2004 Chevy Silverado 2500 Crew 6.0L (tow vehicle)
1991 FW 170 Freedom 4.3L (SOLD)

I've always heard the FW painted trailers don't hold up well at all in salt. We've got one lake here in Kansas that's slightly salty (who would've thought?), and my dealer told me to never go there. He said they can always spot the boats coming in for service that have been to that lake just by looking at the trailer.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

All of my boating is in salt water and I use a lot of fresh water thoroughly hosing down all parts of the trailer after each outing.
They still rust and I am not a fan of the Four Winns Gatorhyde treatment which hides the initial rust and can prevent a thorough was in fresh water.
I would LOOVE an aluminium trailer.

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Brian
2006 Horizon 220
350mpi Mercruiser
Jeep Grand Cherokee V8

Painted trailers seem to last about 3-5 years before major work needs to be done if used in salt more than a few times per year. I've had galvanized on my past 2 boats and have had no problems whatsoever and I am half fresh/half salt.

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2009 SL262, Merc 8.1L HO 425 HP With
Bravo III "X" Drive and DTS Smart Tow

I use my boat in salt water all the time. I purchased the galvanized and gatorhyde trailer and have had no problems at all with it, other than some of the nuts rusting. The non-galvanized (either painted or gatorhyde) trailers are really not suitable for salt water at all and will rot out from the inside which is totally unprotected and fills with salt water every time you load or unload. No matter how well you rinsed it afterwards, I think it will always be an issue.

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Alec

2006 Horizon 190
VP 4.3GL/SX, Sunsport

Without hijacking this thread, which lake is that Mike? Never heard this before...

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

Paul, I wish I could remember. I want to say it's Wilson, but I think people have told me in the past that isn't right. On the other hand Wilson is fairly close to Salina, so one might think I'm right about that. And now my dealer is OOB, so I can't call to ask them.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I don't know how many times you can put a painted steel trailer in the salt water before it starts to rust, because no one here has one....they have to be either galvanized or aluminum....even if I was in a fresh water region, I'd have a galvanized trailer.....mine is 15 years old and all the U-bolts have been replaced, as has the axle/springs/brakes. The original galvanized portions have almost no rust. I found that keeping the springs and bolts/nuts rust free depends on regular coatings with rust preventive coatings like T-9 Boeshield or Corrosion X. Mine has been sprayed every year with this stuff and the springs (6 years old) and all the other fittings (5 years old) have no rust, by comparison my neighbor has a 2005 Venture galvanized trailer and the springs/U-bolts/nuts are heavily rusted already, and both trailers are used only for seasonal launching and retrieving of moored boats. So that stuff works well.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II