Motor home Tow-bar check yours.

[Trevor Lodge]

Its a long blog sorry.
Tow bar blues.


When was the last time you checked your tow-bar for rust damage.
Vehicle. Fiat 2.8 motorhome. Built in 2004. Mileage 7850

During the process of carrying out the normal checks on my motorhome before the season starts I noticed the tow bar box section was showing signs of rust damage and paint lift.

This is a 54 reg vehicle with just under 8000 miles under its’ belt. The rust damage on the outer box section. (I will get to the explanation later why rust has taken hold). This prompted me to investigate further and found that on the box section that is bolted to the chassis there was rust lurking under the plastic dipped paint finish; not a place where you would want it to be as rust will spread along to the welded structural joints. As it is at the moment the damage is not sufficient to give rise to any weakness, however left for a few years or more could be lethal. Just think of the dangers of failure whist towing. The spare wheel and carrier was is a poor state too.

The wheel I hasten to add, has not been used since the day it was fitted by the makers. Showing signs of neglect in the usual way of paint lifting away and general corrosion setting in. This can be dealt with by having your wheel or wheels taken to a good powder coater to have refurbished .

The wheel carrier just having a cursory coat of paint by the makers was in a poor state, rust has taken hold although it is still serviceable, if ignored its’ fate would be sealed to failure. Spare wheels for normal motorhomes are not light and with the constant bouncing around on our fine British roads!! adding to the stress of the unit combined with rust damage it may finally give way, so act sooner rather than later.

Now getting to the problem. Most paint finishes will have its time when it starts to degrade either by effects of ultra-violet radiation, (sun light) salt and general weathering, Although the tow-bar has been plastic dipped and normally is very good for protection, it is only as good as the surface it is applied too. If you look closely at the pictures above (top right) they show that no preparation work has taken place other than probably degreasing before paint is applied. Painters among us will tell you preparation is 9/10ths of the job. I for one must agree. If only manufacturers would spend just a little more on the prep work first i.e.. taking the trouble to etch the surface so the paint or protective membrane has something to stick to.

We would all be saving time and money and when you think about it the word green comes into play by the very fact that if you want to look after your transport the work has to be done again at the cost of more materials and energy . Not good for our planet.

The cure for this is fairly simple and straight forward . Once rust has set in get the items blast cleaned and powder coated. If you do not want to go to the cost of powder coating then use a good quality D.I.Y wet paint.

Blast cleaning ( shot blasting)
Blast cleaning will remove all the rust damage, you should then satisfy yourself that the parts and welds are sound, if not get them repaired or replaced. Once you or your blaster is happy with the work have the parts powder coated. There are powder coaters and good powder coaters, a word to the wise is not to use the cheapest, try to find a more discerning specialist who is used to this type of work and avoid the more industrial coaters. Please note; sand blasting with the use of sand is illegal and is covered in detail by the H.S.E. There is only one sand that can be used, garnet this dose not contain any silica.

Choice of powder coat materials:-

There is a huge choice of colours, finishes and types available, I would recommend for undercarriage work two products, either Plascoat or Absite as they are very hard wearing and will last a very long time. The colour choice is limited to primary colours but you can’t go far wrong with black. Further information can be found if you Google the product names.

For more decorative finishes powder coating in a standard polyester is adequate, however once again preparation must be of the highest quality to be successful. Good powder coaters should offer a high grade primer coat either in the form of a zinc laden epoxy polyester or a non zinc primer that has self healing properties. Zinc primers are not as environmentally friendly and are losing favour with some due to the impact it has on our environment . There are greener options available that offer a good long-term life

Now to the chassis unit on the tractor cab unit. A 2004 Fiat Ducati 2.8
With very little surprise whilst poking about underneath the Motorhome I found tin-worm attacking the cross-member under the cab section. As mentioned before the vehicle has under 8k on the clock and is a 2004 reg.

This will not take a lot to put right but why “oh” why do manufactures or the re-fitters not go that one step further to ensure this sort of problem does not happen.

The answer is simple, “money and profits”. This doesn't bode well with us the customers. Less of my moaning and more to the positive. How to repair this without any fuss.

Health and safety is a priority. Eye and ear protection should be used. Use a four inch grinder with a linishing flat wheel to remove all the rust damage and old paint. Clean off and apply a good heavy wet zinc primer, allow to dry and then apply one or two coats of underseal.

For further long term protection apply a good coat of Waxoyl in the hard to reach places. Any products required can be ordered from us or your local supplier.


Once project is completed I will be posting the finished results.

Trevor Lodge
Maldon Shot Blasting & Powder Coating Ltd.
Do it once. Do it right.
Further images can be found on our web site
Maldon Shotblasting and Powder Coating - for all your shotblasted and powder coated projects

[Trevor Lodge]

Just to move things along form my last posting. I have now completed the work and if anyone would like to see photographs of before & after the work please email me. tamsb@fsmail.net. If anyone needs any advice for shotblasting & powder coating please feel free to ask.

Thanks and roll on summer.

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