www.iFourWinns.com

Has anyone else experienced this problem? My trailer is only 1 year old and has only been used in fresh water lake. Any other time it is kept in my garage. On the axle the paint started chipping off. When you look at the axle closely it looks like there is something under the paint. A body shop said that the axle was not prepped properly before they baked the paint on. Just curious to see if anyone else has experienced this problem. The dealership is telling me Four Winns will not correct this defect.

Do a search, peeling paint and rust on Four Winns trailers is not uncommon at all. Many people have brought up the issue over the years.

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

I'm pretty sure they don't even bake it. They probably just didn't get the steel de-greased before spraying it. Best thing to do at this point is sand that area and prime & paint it. FW sells matching touch up spray.

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

My four winns did the same thing. I didn't properly inspect the trailer before purchase. The paint had bubbled up and rusted the main structure of the trailer. My trailer snapped in half as I was pulling the boat mid season. I had to buy a new trailer because it was unfixable. Strip the paint at the area and around the area, sand and reprep. Repaint and hopefully you got it before the steel was compromised.

Yes, use rustoleoum. Wire brush it, prime it and paint.

Good luck

Just say NO to painted trailers, I have never seen anything that makes less sense, than a painted BOAT trailer....that's why they invented GALVANIZING....
I see 20 year old galvanized trailers here in salt water that have no rust on them, some do rust but not for many years and still a boat is so much maintenance to start with why would anyone want to have a constant headache with a rusty trailer. I replaced the axle, springs and brakes on my 94 Load Rite and it's rolling along just fine....

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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

+1 to Lou - I would never dream of owning a painted trailer.

The problem with a painted trailer is the inside of the tubes are not painted so the bare steel protected is not protected at all, so they quickly rust from the inside out and you never find out until it is too late. With a galvanised trailer, the entire trailer is dipped so both the inside and outside of the tubes are galvanised (at least in theory if it's done right!)

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Alec

2006 Horizon 190
VP 4.3GL/SX, Sunsport

I agree, galvanized rims too. The trailer is being dipped in water, rust is going to form on a painted trailer sooner than later.

Although it is tough to argue against the benefits of a galvanized trailer, I have had relatively good success with painted trailers. Note I boat purely in fresh water. My previous boat's trailer was 27 years old before I had to do my first structural repairs. It was going strong another 8 years before I sold it last year. My point is that with proper maintenance, you can get good life out of a painted trailer. Once again, I am purely in fresh water. I would be scared to death to drop my painted trailer in salt water.

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2005 FW Horizon 250
8.1L VP DP