Clear Coat???????

I was just looking at a Jay Leno's Garage video on Airstream. The Airstream has a clear coat of paint over the aluminum and you WAX IT JUST LIKE YOUR CAR!!! Is this possible to do with our Camp Inn's?

 

Could it be done? Yes.

Should it be done. No.

Why?

First, here is the rant on painted fenders from the Camp-Inn website:

"Why don't you use painted steel fenders?

"The fenders on any trailer receive a lot of punishment. Stones and road debris are thrown up from the tow vehicles tires and hit the fenders, even if you only drive on paved roads. It doesn't matter how good your paint is or how slow you drive: painted fenders will chip and rust.

"Our original prototype used painted steel fenders, similar to most of our competitors. After driving down about 20 miles of gravel road, the front of the fenders were sand-blasted. The fronts of the fenders were chipped and pitted from stones thrown up by the car's rear tires. The fenders looked bad and after one rainstorm, rust started forming in the pits. We realized that in order to keep it looking good, the fenders would have to be repainted. Instead, we went with two low-maintainance stainless steel fenders."

Second, Airstream usually only clear coats the upper areas of the trailer that won't be stone damaged. A teardrop is mostly equivalent to the lower areas of an Airstream. You will also find several websites where Airstream owners talk about having to strip off the clear coat in order to polish their trailer.

Lastly, any type of clear coating put on the teardrop will, over time, develop cracks that will allow corrosion to take place as water, salt, etc. will be trapped between the clear coat and the aluminum. Not a good thing.

Bottom line - not recommended.

 

Do not clear coat. Just like Betsey posted, will crack, chip, etc. Best is to wash, dry, and wax.

Jean