Vehicle Vinyl Wrap

[Climbon69]

In the picture you see denatured alcohol and lint free towels, used a a final cleaning process just before vinyl goes on. Socket wrench to dis-assemble jeep. Square and various measuring tools. Xacto knifes, extra blades, and a snap knife (new blade each cut). Apron to keep everything handy. Heat gun and cotton gloves to keep your fingers from getting burned. Also a Velcro covered squeegee to press the vinyl onto the surface. And, lastly, 75' of 3M 1080 Matte Black vinyl. DW actually picked the color as it goes along with recent trends in college football uniforms.

[mrt_1111]

I am thinking you should make a video. . Where are you?? If I could I would help.

[slanted]

Where did you get that cool apron? It is WAY nicer than the old school denim one I use when buffing.

[Gordon Dewald]

I am going to wrap our 22' stacker to match our coach. I will eventually get it done but so far the research has come up with some interesting information.

It will cost about 4,000 to wrap the 22 x 13.5 stacker. The company will print the plastic to match the coach, given I had two color choices for the trailer (white or black) it was suggested a black background because any tree damage would not show as much, graphics printers cannot print metallic so although the design will be similar the lighter colors will be kept apart so the lack of metallic is not so evident.

Paint was estimated at $15,000.

[Climbon69]

All right, it isn't as easy as it looks. But, the learning curve is pretty steep. I did the inside of the back door first. It has some bad spots with "crows feet" (wrinkles). It took two hours to wrap one door hinge yesterday. I painted and partially wrapped the other one in about 10 minutes today. I was feeling pretty cocky today until I started on the door panel. Two hours later I ripped off a pretty ugly looking piece of vinyl and started over. Second try went much better.

Time consuming part so far has been disassembly and assembly. Stripped a screw, lost the taillight wire inside an enclosed panel for about an hour. DW had to come out and calm me down. But, the first piece on the corner went on like it was made to go there. It is so much easier when the panel is vertical.

Old pin stripping came off as advertised. We had previously had damage to the rear of the jeep repaired and when I started to apply vinyl, old paint starting falling off.

Lesson learned, work inside, in the shade, or when it is cloudy. The sun acts like a big heat gun and the vinyl gets all goosey and stretches out too much. The cotton gloves are a "must have". You basically use your fingers to get the vinyl to go where you want it.

Someone suggested a video. We'd have to cut the audio. This takes a ton of patience and I'm not that kind of guy.

We live in Overgaard, AZ. I know, "where the heck is Overgaard?" Between Payson and Show Low. At the same time I'm doing this I'm building a new garage, adding on to the house, and DW hopes remodeling the kitchen. Retirement is a seven day a week job.

[Climbon69]

Gordon,

I assume your stacker is like a box trailer on the outside? $4k sounds a little steep for smooth, flat surface application. Are they doing graphics or just matching the stripes on your coach? You might want to get another quote.

Something else suspicious about the quote on your stacker - if they are matching the stripe patterns on your coach they don't have to print anything. They should run the vinyl through their computer controlled system to cut the pattern. No printing is involved. And, if printing is involved, graphics can be printed on the new metallic film with the right equipment.

[Climbon69]

Used the Knifeless tape for the first time. It does make a nice sharp cut, but it does have a learning curve just like the vinyl. I think it will work really good to trim the vinyl around the windows on my coach.

I'm finding that it is getting easier to get vinyl on and smoothed out with no wrinkles. Flat walls on the RV should be a piece of cake compared to the compound surfaces on the Jeep.


Knifeless tape is hard to hang onto and a small cut has to be made to help the tape get started. You can just barely see the small filament line in the photo and the cut.

[AggieDad]

Originally Posted by Climbon69

Gordon,

I assume your stacker is like a box trailer on the outside? $4k sounds a little steep for smooth, flat surface application. Are they doing graphics or just matching the stripes on your coach? You might want to get another quote.

Something else suspicious about the quote on your stacker - if they are matching the stripe patterns on your coach they don't have to print anything. They should run the vinyl through their computer controlled system to cut the pattern. No printing is involved. And, if printing is involved, graphics can be printed on the new metallic film with the right equipment.

I have to agree. In Houston I was quoted $3 - $4,000 for my 34 foot Winnebago by multiple companies. This included either using my photos or theirs.

[Gordon Dewald]

Originally Posted by Climbon69

Gordon,

I assume your stacker is like a box trailer on the outside? $4k sounds a little steep for smooth, flat surface application. Are they doing graphics or just matching the stripes on your coach? You might want to get another quote.

Something else suspicious about the quote on your stacker - if they are matching the stripe patterns on your coach they don't have to print anything. They should run the vinyl through their computer controlled system to cut the pattern. No printing is involved. And, if printing is involved, graphics can be printed on the new metallic film with the right equipment.

Thanks Climbon and Aggie - I will follow up on your information. Appreciate it.

[Climbon69]

Spent most of the day yesterday getting the fenders and running board off the passenger side. My comfort with the vinyl and my skill levels are rapidly improving. I'm learning the technique using tension on the film in conjunction with the heat gun to clear up wrinkles. I am very glad I tackled the jeep first. You really need to work with this stuff for a while to get a feel for how it behaves. I think tackling the RV first would have been very frustrating.



Still trying to figure out how to make the knifeless tape do what I want. I'm convinced it will work great once I learn how to use it. Also will need another tool for application of vinyl on the RV. Need a hard rubber roller to put more pressure on the vinyl on a large surface. Adequate pressure is needed to fully activate the adhesive.

I am also finding this stuff is pretty tough. Have had a few "accidents" with tools and it doesn't show on the vinyl.

BTW, DW is really getting excited about the whole project. She's talking about re-upholstering the seats, getting new door panels, and new carpet. Can't wait for what she's going to want on the RV!!

[Annierufus]

Taking fenders off of jeep was frustrating when I did it, I ended up putting threaded inserts in and using stainless bolts to reinstall.


Joe 1998 Itasca Sunflyer Ford 460

[mvpmich]

According to Bret Michaels of Rock My RV, vinyl wrap is much cheaper, easier and quicker to install and gives you all the flexibility of any graphics package at much less the cost. I would be interested in seeing the final design and installation when it's complete.

[mrt_1111]

Having no idea about knifeless tape, I decided go watch a video.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...76943099,d.aWw

Does that work about windows/doors and other shapes? Amazing

[Climbon69]

Mark Taylor,

It is amazing. It gives really clean, straight cuts, but there is a learning curve to figure out how to do it correctly. It's almost worth it to buy a few sample sheets of vinyl and some Knifeless tape to get the technique down. A 165' roll of tape is about $35. But, given our old eyes and not so steady hand, we can waste a lot of vinyl cutting it incorrectly. The kniveless tape takes that out of the equation.

Your Bounder is exactly the kind of coach that a total vinyl wrap is made for. My 20 year old coach is the same. We love our old rigs, know them inside and out, but don't want to spend tens of thousands of dollars to make them pretty. And, there's that snobby 10 year rule that we face all the time. But, with a good wrap, our rigs can be more attractive than most 5 year old rigs on the road.