Truck Sandblasting & Refinishing

Our auto body shop is proud to partner with the City of Minneapolis to breathe new life into their recycling trucks.  To do so, we put our industrial auto sandblasting equipment and paint booth to work.  Let's take a look at how we accomplished this.

These all-important work horses are the recycling trucks that dutifully collect and process the recycling for tens of thousands of households across Minneapolis.  Week after week, Minnesota winter after Minnesota winter, these are the trucks that help keep our refuse out of landfills to ensure we have a clean and sustainable Twin Cities. 

As you might imagine, the workload and environment they operate in cause a great deal of wear and tear.  The recycling itself leaves residue in every crevice that corrodes and wears away at pivot points, wiring, and other components while the salt, minor collisions with recycling bins, and cold weather can quickly decrease the useful life of these vehicles if not properly maintained.

Our Task - Automotive Refinishing From Start to Finish

This is where the Bona Bros. Body & Paint comes in.

More than simple cosmetics, our job is to strip down and remove the components of these trucks and then sandblast the entire exterior to the bare metal so we can apply protective industrial coatings.  It is a large job with many labor hours involved, but it is a task that our experienced auto body technicians specialize in.

Let’s take a look at the most recent truck we worked on.

City of Minneapolis' 2012 Recycling Truck

This 2012 Crane Carrier Cab Over Packer came to us for a needed refresh after years of use. 

Disassemble & Repair

With over 125 labor hours estimated from start to finish, we kicked things off by removing it’s many components: mudflaps, decals, lights, sign panels, loud speakers, and safety tape all had to come off.

Next, we repaired any and all defects such as a bent bumper, a cracked stair runner, dented door panels, and a multitude of rust on the frame and other hard to reach areas.  These were welded, straightened, and sanded as needed so that the soon to be painted truck would look like new.

Automotive Sandblasting

After this was done, our technicians suited up and began sandblasting the entire truck to remove every square inch of paint and rust that remained.  This stage is not only satisfying because it is the first glimpse of a refreshed truck, but it provides an all-important base from which we can apply primer, paint, and other protective coatings for reliable adhesion.

Reassemble & Refinish

The final phase was putting back the components we originally removed and then the refinishing.  Many of us have heard the most important part of painting is the prep work.  It’s certainly true for auto body and now we get to reap the rewards of our hard work.

The color scheme was to paint the frame black, the body and cab white, and certain accessories yellow.  This required our technicians to carefully mask off every hose, decal, sign, and other components as each color was applied. 

A "brand new" recycling truck for Minneapolis Residents

The end result speaks for itself…. a recycling truck that you would swear just came off the assembly line!  A sincere thank you to the City of Minneapolis for trusting us to do the job right.

Whether you have a fleet of garbage trucks, a classic Ford F-150, or even a gumball machine (yes, we have painted them before), our experienced technicians have the skill and tools to refinish and add years of useful life to your vehicles and equipment.