Picked up a used lift to replace my current one that is loosing a bit too much weight (aka rust). The one I picked up is in pretty good shape, but does have surface rust going on. Started working on cleaning it up so I can give it a coat of POR15 Urethane to help protect it and maybe give it a few more years of life. To those who have used the paint how much metal prep do you do? As you can see I started with the strip wheels and I realize prep is everything and I have a gallon of their metal prep. My old one has similar rust in these areas and it doesn't seem to have gotten that much worse over the years. Also going to see if I can get the screws so I can lube up the pins as mine have gotten stiff over the years. Just kind of rambling to see what others think. Thanks and will try to keep this updated.
Just spray the bejessus out of it with a good penetrating oil such as wd-40 and run it. Give all the pins and pivots a little extra. If you bought it used I wouldn’t put as much effort into it a you are planning on. Or have it sand blasted, then prime and paint.
Sandblasting may be a good route. From what I’ve read, the final coat of POR adheres well to a surface that is a bit rough from the blasting process.
I've never used it but know others that have, and they say it is great. I need to re-do my small trailer since it has a little more (well let's call it patina) than I would like. POR 15 sounds like it might be a good candidate for this.
Thought about sandblasting but not sure it is worth it. Got most of the worst off yesterday but still want to work on getting the pins out to clean them up, but coule wait until it is mounted, or as Sandhillbilly said, just spray the heck out of them. My old one was used as well and held up pretty good over the 7-8 years I've owned it. Still works pretty good but have to stand on it for it to lower, jumping if it's been awhile, and the rust. Kind of hoping I can get this one lubed up so it won't be a problem later. It's not going to look or be perfect, but should serve needs and I should only have $400 in it when all said and done. Old one cost $450 when I purchased it so not bad in my book and who knows, maybe find someone interested in the old one so it could live on.
Hard to find bad reviews on it. I already have the metal prep from a past project and a pint of gloss black. Have the degreaser coming along with the urethane for a topcoat.
All you really need to do is wire brush the surface, and knock off any scale, the POR seems to prefer a rusty surface to adhere to IME...never tried it after sandblasting, but I'm sure that would work too.
And i thought my tailgate was in rough shape! My trick is to constantly "abuse" it so rust doesnt get a chance to form! No advice but congrats on the new one.
Another random thing I read; may be worth top coating as POR may fade with sunlight exposure. Someone feel free to keep me honest.
Once you have one it would be difficult to live without it. As posted earlier, I hope to find someone who welds and find a second life for my old one. As I read it, I will use the degreaser, then the metal prep (I have a half gallon leftover from another project, POR15 and then the Urethane over that. At least that is what I have read so feel free to correct me.
