Vinyl wrapp a HDT

[dblr]

Just curios if anyone here as ever thought or looked into doing this? I went today to see about getting ours done to match our new River Stone Legacy and was very surprised at the cost at over $8,000.00 I did not expect that much and now wonder how high a paint job would run. Anyway just looking to see if anyone has tried, thanks.

[Chad Heiser]

I am slowly working the process right now.  I have a guy working on some designs to match my new DRV, but we have not gotten to price talk yet.  A friend of mine had his Bounder Class A wrapped by the same company and turned me on to them.  They do very good work, but we will see what the price ends up being.  I told them I am not in a hurry to get it done right now, so he is working on the design in his spare time.

[Darryl&Rita]

Looked at several years ago, to cover up the badly faded paint on ours. $pendy. Tijuana special, courtesy of 2L was cheaper, but is going to need some rock chips fixed eventually. Probably break down, strip to good base material, and re$pray.

[SWharton]

Years ago we had our MDT decal to  match our 5th. Looked sharp. We had a Stalick Conversion, converted in Oregon and the decaler was close by. I don't remember specifically where but someone should know. The decaler had books and books of decals he could make to match almost everything. Everything computerized.

[peety3]

That's right about the price I'd expect. What were you expecting? It's got to be a durable material, and then they need to use sun-"proof" inks, and since they wouldn't be able to print one single piece to cover the whole truck, they need really good alignment methods to get things to line up. Then applying the wrap is going to be a rather laborious process involving a lot of tricky ladder work.

[rdickinson]

I got mine done 4 yrs ago.  Except for the end caps.  Cost was about 4k in Calgary, including purchasing the rights to 2 graphic designs.  The original intention was to remove old faded Travel Supreme graphics and replace them with the same but slightly larger pattern to cover the old footprint.

Didn't work out well, Designer Coachworks in Calgary left me with about 100 nicks in the glass hence the need for a full wrap to cover nicks.

Several things you will need to remember, this after having gone thru it myself.  Best to pull all windows, hatches, moldings, lights and anything else possible, clean the area before applying decals or graphics.  Nothing will stick to silicone which is often used for caulking.  If you wrap into the opening, the windows, hatches etc encapsulate the vinyl, preventing it from peeling back.

Pulling windows, hatches etc is a PITA but not that difficult to do.

If you simply butt the vinyl up to the windows it will eventually let go.

Not all moldings or trim pieces can be removed so the caulking needs to be cut, removed and the surface cleaned thoroughly with a product which does not have any oil in it.  Apply the graphics the caulk over top of it.

Painting can run around 12-14k at Mikes in Indiana....at least that's the price they gave me 3 yrs ago at the Tampa RV show.  They do a good job.

Re the end caps.....sand and paint.

 

Roger

[dblr]

peety3, I really did not know what to expect but at my 1st visit the first person said around 2 grand ball park as a box van ran around 3 grand and overall size looked less, boy was she wrong. I was thinking more then 2 but under 5 so for right now looks like this is out of our budget plan.

[dblr]

Roger, we are just looking at the truck the camper was a full body paint from the builder, I appreciate all the info you shared, did you have the camper done?

[NoDirectionHome]

I think $8K  is the high end & what I'd expect for a quick quote.  I think a solid or two tone would be in the $4-5K range.

[dan412]

$8000 That's about what it would cost to paint the truck one color.

[VegasFlyer]

We have gotten several sand cars wrapped with intricate patterns for around $1,500.00.  Granted, there is a considerable size difference, though the truck would have less intricate areas to align.

The multiple pieces is not that big of an issue, according to the folks we have used.  We will talk to them and get a ballpark figure for a full HDT wrap.

 

[dblr]

Thanks Vegas Flyer, will be interested in what you find out

[Jack Mayer]

There are three things being described in the answers above. Wrapping a full 5th wheel sides, wrapping a semi, and adding graphics-only to a MDT or semi. They are totally different animals, with different price ranges. Personally, were I going to do something to my trailer, I'd paint it. It would cost more, but last longer, with a better chance for a long-term outcome. Graphics are no issue at all....many people do them well, and the price is all over the place depending on complexity and installation costs. 

Painting a truck is an 8K-20K job, depending on quality and location. For a quality job.  I've seen good jobs for $6K, but that was a few years ago, and unusual. I've seen pretty poor jobs for $10K. Choose carefully if you decide to paint. 

[VegasFlyer]

Here is a video that provides some good info on the subject.

http://tkographix.com/vehicle-wrap-cost/

[noteven]

I was thinking of a part wrap of 3 strands of tangled barbed wire and scratches around the front of the won ton and back on the trailer a part wrap showing a flow of $$ bills fluttering out a window on one side, and 3 stick on .458 cal. bullet holes down below the water line leaking what looks like black tank fluids.... 

[dblr]

Jack, we were looking just to do the HDT to try to match the camper

[dblr]

46 minutes ago, VegasFlyer said:

Here is a video that provides some good info on the subject.

http://tkographix.com/vehicle-wrap-cost/

Good video, I guess our issue is they are trying to match the truck with the camper with the design of the paint job, it has a slight metallic look when in the sun so maybe that helped drive the cost up.

[rdickinson]

Me not paying attention to the original post again.. The truck is a Volvo 730, in taking a look at it, I don't see too many areas that would cause problems with vinyl wrapping.  The Eagle and the wings on the truck were all part of a deal for both the truck and trailer.

To do the truck complete, I'd be guessing well north of 4k but that's only a guess. Again remove all hardware possible.  Piano hinge around cargo doors could pose a problem.  They would need scaffolding to get up and over the cab.

There are those who will say it isn't a problem but you need to think it thru, exactly how will it be done.  I'd liken it to putting sticky  wallpaper all over the truck and getting the seams to line up.

The problems the vinyl people have are low temps for installation cause grief as do compound corners which stress the material going around a corner  which may peel later. My Smart was completely wrapped and cost over 2k.  The convoluted  license plate area  gave them problems so we did it in 2 colors, 2 separate pieces.

They have to take into consideration the size of material and how it is going to be cut and leaving what for waste ,cus your paying for that as well.

Vinyl is not as tough as paint, but depending on where it is, easier to replace. 

Another issue is dye lots of material.  The white you use now may not be the same shade of white used later for a repair or change.

Also if you use a graphics design, get a copy of the pattern, and the scale used,  This is a help to the designer for service later.

A high wear area is just below the drivers door above the last step, that is always getting scuffed up.  If something tougher can be found for that location, I'd use it.

In areas which may peel, say around the windshield, they may use a clear tape which has a higher adhesive quality .  This 1/2" wide material is put down first then the vinyl applied over top.  They gave me a roll in case things let go on the trip.  Big difference in mid January temps of freezing in the Victoria area and 70's to 80's in Florida 10 days later.

[dblr]

Roger, thanks for the tips on problem areas.

[RickW]

All very valid points.

25 minutes ago, rdickinson said:

Vinyl is not as tough as paint, but depending on where it is, easier to replace. 

About 10 years ago we fully wrapped a enclosed utility trailer that we use to haul our trade show booth around.  We only do a couple of shows a year so the trailer spends most of its time in the warehouse, protected from the elements when not on the road.  Overall we are pleased with how the trailer still looks especially considering the age.  Being stored out of the sun makes a big difference.  The front does show lots of signs of age due to rock chips & bug impacts.

32 minutes ago, rdickinson said:

A high wear area is just below the drivers door above the last step, that is always getting scuffed up.  If something tougher can be found for that location, I'd use it.

The loads and unloads have really taken their toll on the wrap at the rear of the trailer under the doors.  We can also see lots of nicks around the keyholes when keys miss the lock and near the tires is showing some road rash.

If we used the trailer more frequently and it was not stored inside we defiantly would budget for a re-wrap on a schedule.  If looking for a once or done solution, I would lean heavily towards painting.

[rdickinson]

Rick, there is a way to deal with these key near misses.  In my case on the trailer there were a couple of minor issues.  The graphics installer made up some irregular shaped patches and put them over the nicks.  They were colored to look like the rest of the pattern on the side of the trailer.  He even installed patches over the cargo door latches to disguise them.

 

Re the utility trailer have another pce of material or a smaller version of company logo put overtop. Accent pcs.

On edit, I have a computer tutor coming over next week to clean things up.  Top of the list is posting pics to the forum so stay tuned, I'll post some close ups of my graphic problems we took care of and the problem area of the Smart car.

May also post pics of the underbody lights on the truck and trailer....

 

[Exile]

9 hours ago, noteven said:

I was thinking of a part wrap of 3 strands of tangled barbed wire and scratches around the front of the won ton and back on the trailer a part wrap showing a flow of $$ bills fluttering out a window on one side, and 3 stick on .458 cal. bullet holes down below the water line leaking what looks like black tank fluids.... 

That would certainly be classy.  I wont say whether it would be high class or not. 

I would sure like it though. 

[beyerjf]

Everyone here is talking about applying the decals and the circumstances. We haul fully wrapped 53' trailers with advertising for various shows and events. I don't know what the manufacturer of the wrap recommends, but after a period of time, depending on the storage and usage conditions the wrapping  will be borderline impossible to remove cleanly. My guess is something like 3-4 years maximum. The wrapped trailers we deal with have the decals removed when the show has run its course, or the tour is over, rarely more than 18 months, then they are removed before it is a problem. Wabash, one of the largest trailer manufacturers, takes in trades and spends a fortune "deidentifying" the trailers, just removing the lettering and logos of the previous owner. 

I had my tractor painted  with a very high quality paint job 5 years ago for $7000. 

[rdickinson]

You don't necessarily have to wrap the whole truck.  Mine was white so we added deeecals.  You can take or leave as much of the original color you want.  Make the original color the main color or change it to one of the accent colors.

Ie Cab is white, fenders, fairings and visor red or??

Have a fire belching dragon flying out of the nosecone of the trailer and the rest of the body and tail disappearing into that same cloud on the rear cap.

[NoDirectionHome]

I think Jeff (beyerjf) is pretty much right on the money according to 3M's own literature.

http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/12593O/6-5-storage-handling-maintenance-removal-of-films-sheetings.pdf