Removing Diamond Shield from our 2005 KSDP

[mojoman]

I’m in the process of removing the Diamond Shield from the front of our 2005 KSDP 3909.

The Diamond Shield looks really really bad. Lots of bug stains that I cannot remove and what looks like mold or fungus (brown). The Diamond Shield has a “yellow” tone and it makes the front paint color look different than the rest of the coach. I tried all the recommend solutions for cleaning it but none of them worked. Anyway, I decided to remove it.

The process I’m using is as follows: run a razor blade (lightly, just enough to provide a stress point so that the Diamond Shield will tear) across the front of the coach laying out 3 inch strips. Starting at the front corner of the coach, I start pulling back about 45’ from the perpendicular with a hair dryer gun blowing on the back side of the angle. I am pulling at a rate of about 1” in 5 seconds. I am finding that with no heat the adhesive stays on the paint. If I apply too much heat the adhesive stays on the paint. So ….. experimentation resulted in keeping the heat gun at just the right distance and there is no adhesive residue. I am able to pull a strip across the front of the coach without any tears. I’ve removed about half of the Diamond Shield so far with no damage to the paint / clearcoat. I talked to Diamond Shield rep. and they advised to use xylene to remove any residual adhesive.

I know I will now have to deal with an occasional paint chip but the front of the coach looks much better than it did with the Diamond Shield.

[JVR]

I removed all on the front of my 06 Essex, a little heat works best, careful not too much, but the wallpaper steamer was the most consistent. I had Diamond Shield come to the house and replace mine which had minor damage from a car. The new looks the same as the old but my Diamond Shield is the newer version, no yellowing or cracking.
I probably would not replace it again, I can have the front painted for less than the Diamond Shield cost not to mention all the work to get it off and prep it for installation.

Trust me, it is far easier to say remove the adhesive with Xylene or Goof Off than to actually remove it. I can remove the Diamond Shield in a fraction of the time it takes to remove the adhesive.
Good luck

[DutchStar38]

Just did mine a couple of months ago. Actually if you get some xylene and an old windex spray bottle you can get the adhesive to release easier by keeping it wet with xylene. I pulled mine off in big pieces and only used a scraper edge to lift just enough for me to grab another piece. REMEMBER, your clear coat is under the Diamond Shield and you don't want cut marks in it. Xylene will not harm the clearcoat. The spray bottle helps a lot to remove the adhesive. Just have a lot of patience and pull slowly so as not to pull and paint off especially near the edges where it seems the paint is its weakest.

[GaryKD]

Sadly this did not work well for me. The bottom line is about 25% of the clear coat came off with the DS. I have requests out to repaint the front of the coach. I'll be going to a bra at the Tampa Super Show in January.

[JVR]

Sorry to hear about you having to repaint, I guess I was fortunate for the most part but a friend was helping and got over zealous and pulled the paint off a strip near the bottom.
The Diamond shield is a problem to repair for sure, but I like the end result, I treat mine with Xzylon and the bugs rinse off and there are no gravel chips. The problem is I can have the front painted a lot easier and cheaper. Also consider some paint work may be inevitable, as well.
JVR

[ottffss]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JVR ... I treat mine with Xzylon and the bugs rinse off ...

Now that's a little nugget nestled in your post!

Griot's used to sell a product called Bug-Off that you simply sprayed on before a buggy trip (sort of like PAM for your front end). It worked fairly well, far from a miracle but cheap and OK. No longer available...

I'll have to try the Xzylon approach... eBay here I come!

[DutchStar38]

I just use a bucket of HOT water and soap and rub the bugs a few times and they come right off. Just was never able to keep the DS clean so off it came. A couple of spots will need some paint touch up but it sure looks better than it did (black moldy yuk). Someday I'll take it in for some touchup.