Low adhesion strength of polyurethane coating to a steel substrate is often attributed to poor steel preparation. However, the ratio of diisocyanate/polyol and dispersion of fillers within a polyurethane coating matrix influence the adhesion strength, optical and corrosion resistance properties. Poor dispersion of nano-fillers in a polymer coating matrix can lead to low adhesion strength, because close packing of nanoparticles often hides the hydroxyl groups required to form polar-polar bonds with the steel surface. This study combines sonication and high-shear mixing methods with shorter mixing times to prepare polyurethane nanocomposite coatings with various clay concentrations while keeping the ratio of diisocyanate/polyol constant. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis and pull-off are used to characterize polyurethane nanocomposite coatings. FTIR results confirm that sonication and high-shear mixing successfully prepare polyurethane-based coatings. TEM shows uniformly dispersed clay particles in polyurethane matrices. The adhesion strength improved on addition of 1-5 wt% C30B organoclay, with the highest improvement (34.4%) at 3 wt% loading. The corrosion resistance of polyurethane coatings was improved by the incorporation of organoclays into their matrices. Onset degradation temperature is also delayed by 4.1-8.5% as the clay concentration increased from 1 to 5 wt%.