Question: Have the polishers trashed this trailer?

[drboyd]

These pictures are from a polishing shop in Eloy, Arizona (about halfway between Phoenix and Tucson) posted to the Airstream Addicts Facebook page yesterday. I had been considering having these people polish my trailer, but I'm having serious second thoughts now.

My suspicion is that they have tried to go too fast, and overheated and warped the panels.

What does anybody else think???


Before:





After:

[tevake]

That looks like it was anodized originally. Can't imagine how hard it was to get it off, which would explain how beat up the panels now look.

Darn shame too, I so wish that the skin of my 345 had been anodized.
It makes such a carefree finish.

Cheers Richard

[drboyd]

Looks from google like Streamlines are anodized.

[DFlores]

Thank you for posting, others will benefit from your experience.


David & Diana
Sent from my iPad using Airstream Forums

[MelGoddard]

Originally Posted by tevake

That looks like it was anodized originally. Can't imagine how hard it was to get it off, which would explain how beat up the panels now look.

Darn shame too, I so wish that the skin of my 345 had been anodized.
It makes such a carefree finish.

Cheers Richard

Wouldn't Anodizing give it a gold finish?
It does on aircraft aluminum.😐

[drboyd]

Originally Posted by DFlores

Thank you for posting, others will benefit from your experience.


David & Diana

That's not my trailer, thank goodness!!!

[skalywag]

The original Alloy sheet aluminum (guess it to be 2024-O) may have had a thin ( 5 micron) layer of pure aluminum to protect it in addition to the anodized finish which are good protections.
Personally, I like the original patina these get over time. Grey like me.
Cheers,

[HiJoeSilver]

Originally Posted by MelGoddard

Wouldn't Anodizing give it a gold finish?
It does on aircraft aluminum.��

It's possible to anodize in lots of different colors.

Hard to tell from the photos but I would think that the warping caused by polishing would pop out when it cools back down. Maybe depends on the metal original temper. Could be that it's just much more noticeable with the shine than the matte finish.

[craftsman]

One things for sure: that looks bad, really bad. I don't think all that's going to pop out no matter how much it cools down. If that was my trailer, I don't know what they could say to calm me down.

[crestonrv]

I guess that is the result when you try to remove the anodized finish from aluminum . the shop should have known better !

[McArthur]

I don't think that's the same trailer in both photos. In the lower photo, the upper side running lights are missing along with whatever that is just forward of the window in the upper photo. In any event, I hope its not.

[AWCHIEF]

Originally Posted by McArthur

I don't think that's the same trailer in both photos. In the lower photo, the upper side running lights are missing along with whatever that is just forward of the window in the upper photo. In any event, I hope its not.

Agree, panel seams are also different.

[rvb]

Originally Posted by MelGoddard

Wouldn't Anodizing give it a gold finish?
It does on aircraft aluminum.😐

Aluminum anodizing is a chemical process and is available in many colors.
aluminum and bronze are the most typical, but, I have seen various shades of red, blue, gold and green, etc...

If that trailer was anodized, it had a more durable and easy to keep finish before it was polished! I believe Wally Byam's gold Airstream was made with gold anodized panels. It is now on display at Jackson Center.

[Cochese]

Fun house mirrors!

[drboyd]

Originally Posted by McArthur

I don't think that's the same trailer in both photos. In the lower photo, the upper side running lights are missing along with whatever that is just forward of the window in the upper photo. In any event, I hope its not.

Here's the opposite side, before and after. It is, unfortunately, the same trailer:

[Jekerrville]

Is it possible that what we see in the bottom image is the reflection of all the junk/equipment, etc that is directly behind the photographer?

It would be reasonable that the folks doing the polish job would remove everything they could prior to compounding the surface. That would account for clearence lights and such being removed.

It would be helpful to take another picture at exactly the same position as the first photo so a reasonable judgement could be made as to how bad the trailer was trashed.

If indeed the surface was seriously damaged, the clowns that did the "work" need to find some lubracant to assist in the owner of the trailer placing same where the sun don't shine.

Then maybe they will "reflect" on what they did.

[craftsman]

I think you could be right. The back two panels look nice and straight in this photo. The warped and indented panels could be do to reflection and then the polishers would have to be congratulated for doing such an amazing high reflection buffing job.

[ldireland]

I could be wrong....ask my wife she knows first hand.... but I would bet those are not the same trailer...end panels don't match from the top trsiler to the bottom pic.

[Nuvite-F]

Originally Posted by MelGoddard

Wouldn't Anodizing give it a gold finish?
It does on aircraft aluminum.😐

I think the gold colored aluminum to which you refer has been subjected to dichromate dip, variously known as Alodyne, Alumiprep, or just generically, "chemical film". This is a thin oxide coating which helps retard corrosion and takes paint well.

Anodizing refers to an aluminum treatment in which a thick oxide film is built up by making the aluminum the anode in an electrochemical reaction. After the oxide film has been established it is sealed in boiling water which can contain a dye of any desired color.

I would hate to try to polish an Anodized aluminum trailer. Bear in mind that aluminum oxide is commonly used as an abrasive, so it is very hard and tough!

Once I needed to have the anodized surface removed from an aluminum plate in order to make solid electrical connections to the surface. (The fabricator had anodized it where the drawing had called for chem film. And aluminum oxide is an electrical insulator!) We stuck it the plate in the Bridgeport milling machine and tried to mill .005" of the surface and it promptly took the edge off the tool! We put in a new tool and set the depth of cut to .010" to get under the oxide layer. The oxide layer actually crumbled off, much like the hard crust of an iron casting when the tool is set to run deep enough. I have a lot of respect for the hardness of an Anodized film!

[brbarnz]

I would paint it Airstream silver. Those highly polished trailers look nice, but are a hazard on the road. Why would I want to pull a mirror behind my truck and blind everyone else on the road?