Decal free trailers - photos? - alternatives?

I find this thread very interesting. My trailer has one color of decal that's fading and cracking, while the rest are like new. The problem one is a gold sparkle fade, but the solid colors are perfect. I was just talking to my wife about removing just the decals that look bad, which would only be a couple on each side plus the "Captiva" name on the front. There are still a couple of swooshes on front that are in new condition. I've been a little afraid of doing it, but thanks to this thread, I've about decided to take the heat gun to it today.

Yeah I don't think plain white is the way to go. However the swooping decals on mine make me think of the old tail fins and wood grain styling used on cars years ago. Another fad that will run its course.

Maybe a nice paint job is the way to go.

I agree on the FEMA look but it's a choice not your child. I'll probably get docked for that. Has anyone done the sign shop route and what does it cost?

The rear decals of our Gulf Stream were pealing so bad DW and I took the time to remove them when we washed it. I offered Gulf Stream the opportunity to continue advertising their company on out TT and they responded by sending prices.

Sorry I am old fashioned, why would I pay to advertise for someone else to make a profit, so I declined.

I like the sign shop idea, I don;t like the blank white look, so if I have to spend money I would rather have something nice put on the back instead of a companies name.

JJBIRISH wrote:
plain white or just a simple strip would be ok… what is butt ugly is the latest and greatest race to see who can fit the most swirls and swipes… with some there are so many swirls you can't even tell what the base color is supposed to be… swirls form the right overplayed with them from the left, and a few splashes thrown on just for drill…

Yep, and a couple weeks ago I saw a brand new GMC 3500HD dually that they had all those custom swirls and stripes added to the truck for a truck/trailer matched set. Didn't look too bad when all hitched together but it sure made for one expensive butt ugly truck by itself.

I'd rather have a naked trailer than one with the whooshes and swirls all made of vinyl decals. At least with the naked look, I can choose to get it painted with whatever kind of lines or design of my own choosing.

WoodGlue

Don't care for the naked look. Far too plain. People debadge cars to emphasize the design, lines, and curves. Many car designs are art. RVs are boxes. Nothing sexy about them. Some of the new RVs are overdone, especially a lot of the expensive Class "A"s I see on the road. Many of the less expensive models have much more tasteful designs.

The one thing to remember is that the paint under the old decals will look brighter white than the faded paint that was not covered.
We took off our Laredo on the front of the trailer when it peeled and even though I washed and waxed the area you can clearly see where the old decal was. Maybe the Texas sun is harder on the paint than up in Canada. So your might not be as bad.

When the side decals started to crack and peel we were unable to get the original decals from 2007 but the color scheme of the current model looked good with the strips and such that we left on. The new decal is not a direct match to the old and you can see the ghost of the old ones around the new. It's not perfect but I thought it looked better than going naked.

Back in the days mostly on the hybrid side, someone wanted their HTT left plain...no decals of any kind. There was going to be a charge of something like $150 for NOT putting them on. Guess the manufacturer considered that a mod. All of the decals on our '07 ROO looked like brand new - we store under cover 24/7 - except for the rear bunkend that got the brunt of everything and it was drying and cracking. I called FR and they were still available for $50 or so + shipping. It was all of a 10 minute job to take my hair dryer and remove the old one. Then clean with mineral spirits, align the new one and you're done. The one change that we did differently than the instructions, after asking for forum input, was to wet the area with soapy water (Dawn) and then get the new one aligned correctly. Squeege the water out and it was dry in just a few minutes. We had done it that way with the decals on our boat years back and DH was very nervous about just trying to stick it on and have it perfect the first time. The soapy water is the solution.

My cousin and hubby in Houston store their TT at a storage lot so it got the full brunt of everything. They decided to replace and found it to be a PITA job. Even with the hair dryer, they picked tiny specks of their old decals for days and days. The new ones went on nicely and it looked good, but a job they said they would not do again. They did not have the smooth side exterior, so it was more of a project, but a nice finish. They did simple stripes.

Absolutely agree that some of the new graphics are just way too much. Our new Rockwood Ultra Lite, we feel, has enough to be interesting but not so much as to be downright ugly.

If you have smooth sides, there is a veritable plethora of quality die-cut vinyl stickers/decals out there. Do a search on feeBay. A local sign shop will also have billions of options tho they might be pricier. Don't restrict yourself by searching specifically for rv or trailer graphics, just look at all the options out there.

An example: cool tropical graphic