Truck wrap

jambro · February 7, 2015

Has anyone vinyl wrapped their truck, I got a price of 6200 for 3m wrap. It would be wrapped to match the camper but I think it's a little pricey. They say it will last about 8 years but paint is forever. Any pros, cons or input?

lappir · February 7, 2015

Have been thinking of doing a partial of the top only. Have not priced anywhere. Did get a ball park of $20,000 to repaint from an acquaintance who I knew did truck painting. I know others here have actually had their trucks repainted and some who were talented enough to do it themselves.

Vinyl or paint it's all about the preparation and finish or so I have been told.

Rod

Broncohauler · February 7, 2015

Wrap no but my paint started at $6000.

For three Colors I got carried away and it went up over $13,000 for semi show quality.

Send a PM to Allen F he is the resident painter and sure has a lot of experience with wraps.

Seems like a simple white paint job and you could contact your trailer manufacture for matching decals that it would be much cheaper.

SuiteSuccess · February 7, 2015

I went through this last year with my trailer. Ended up having it painted here locally. Well under $15k for full body paint with three coats of clear. Job was good but not great. Priced several of the "known" trailer painters in Indiana and cheapest was $16,500 plus $1,000 to remove old caulking (didn't know why that would be a separate charge). Looked into the wrap as we have a place that does that locally. Would have been $5-6 k but was told was good for only about three years before fading.

Jack Mayer · February 7, 2015

You should be able to get a truck painted with a good job for a little more than that. Very little.

Precision has done several semi trucks to match the trailers they were painting and I thought the work was well above average quality. Prices are highly dependent on what you want done, but expect in the 8K+ range for a good job.

JC and Angie · February 7, 2015

You should be able to get a truck painted with a good job for a little more than that. Very little.

Precision has done several semi trucks to match the trailers they were painting and I thought the work was well above average quality. Prices are highly dependent on what you want done, but expect in the 8K+ range for a good job.

I Agree with jack, precision painted my truck, 4 colors and 3 clear coats and they replaced my doors. (I supplied the doors) they also painted the drom box. All for 12,500.00. They charged 2500.00 to change the doors. So for 10,000 you could get one hell of a paint job that lasts for ever. Or less depending on your needs and wants.

JC

rdickinson · February 7, 2015

I had my trailer as well as the front of the truck done in Calgary coming up on 2 yrs ago. It was done to cover up over 100 nicks done by sloppy removal of existing decals by a firm in Calgary. Decals were a lot less than paint. Total cost was 35oo$ using a 3m product. SL Graphics did the decal work. Bonnie and Brent are the owners. Best to spend some xtra time and remove what moldings you can first. I didn't and will now have them removed and replaced by wider to cover the transition.

The price included purchasing the original decal from the web, modifying it significantly, prep and installation and a couple of modifications and changes later.

Send me an e-mail and I can provide more pics if you want.

Roger

hdonlybob · February 7, 2015

If you are handy at all, it is not that difficult to do the work yourself.

Any good sign shop with up to date computers should be capable of helping you with the design, as well as making the wraps...

I have done several of my vehicles over the years, and with a lot of patience, some help, and obtaining the basic (simple) knowledge you can do it very easily.

Cheers,

Bob

beyerjf · February 7, 2015

There is NO decal material, which is what a wrap is made of that will last anything like 8 years. Anyone who quoted that is not giving accurate information. After about 2-3 years it will be difficult to remove and after about 5 it will look bad enough you will want to replace it. Wraps are intended for temporary advertising themes, not a long term solution replacing a paint job.

I had my cabover painted in 2011, I disassembled everything that could be unbolted, and handed those pieces to the shop who painted them and the rest of the cab. The truck was out of service for 3 weeks and $7000 by one of the best shops on the east coast, Ross Body and Frame Allentown PA who is good enough to do work for Mack truck on an OEM basis.

One color, base coat/clear coat Imron( or its Dupont aftermarket product, Imron is actually only put on new vehicles OEM). The paint is now 4 years old and still draws many compliments. Don't skimp on this, Between repainting an 11 year old truck and putting in a Reman engine are the 2 smartest things I have done in 40 years of trucking.

We pick up new trailers at various manufacturers. One of them, Wabash in Lafayette IN takes the trade-in at that location. They have a special shop for "de identifying" old trailers, usually they are 6-10 years old, some wrapped, mostly company logos and various graphics. It is an expensive and very labor intensive process, and that is just on the plain flat aluminum side of the 53' road trailers. The biggest issue is removing the remaining adhesive, which over time does not cleanly peel off the aluminum.

RickW · February 10, 2015

There is NO decal material, which is what a wrap is made of that will last anything like 8 years. Anyone who quoted that is not giving accurate information. After about 2-3 years it will be difficult to remove and after about 5 it will look bad enough you will want to replace it. Wraps are intended for temporary advertising themes, not a long term solution replacing a paint job.

I agree on about 3 years on the wrap. The only way I think you will see 8 years out of wrap is if the truck is garaged when not in use. I have a5x8 trailer I use for trade shows. The wrap is about 8 years old now. Still looks good but the trailer is stored in a dark garage when not in use. On average the trailer is only visible to sunlight/UV rays about 30 days a year.