ShopNGarage

Here in the ShopNGarage lab, we have been putting Harbor Freight paint through rigorous field tests. I’ve noticed their paint doesn’t last on products that are stored outside. The picture shows a Harbor Freight trailer that I purchased about five years ago. The instructions call for the trailer to be bolted together with a bolt through the hole shown. Instead, I knocked the paint off at the seam with a stinger brush in a DeWalt angle grinder. I welded the seam with a MIG welder. To protect against rust, I painted the weld area with the cheap .97 cents a can ColorPlace brand spray paint from Wal-Mart. Originally, the spray paint was a fairly close match to the Harbor Freight factory paint. You can see from the picture that the factory paint has deteriorated to the point it is a light pink color and there are areas where it is has succumbed to rust. The cheap spray paint has held up pretty well. My trailer is ready for the arduous task of sanding and re-painting it. I’d have been much better off had I wiped it down with Prepsolv and shot the whole thing with the cheap spray paint when it was new.