New Full Body Paint Job

[scottandgaye]

Finally got tired of the old, faded, cracked decals on the fifth wheel. We took it to Mike's Custom Painting in Bremen, IN (just south of South Bend) and he stripped the entire thing then repainted it with a four color paint job and three coats of clear coat. We love the new look! Now we are working on the interior to improve it. We also had the roof replaced at the same time, since it was almost ten years old. We plan to keep it for another ten years or so, then decide what we want to go with in retirement. Here are some before and after photos.

Before:



After:

Moderator edit to re-size pictures to forum recommended limit of 640px maximum width.

[buc1980]

scottandgaye wrote:
Thanks to everyone for the kind words. We really are proud of it and appreciate all of the support that we receive on this forum. I just got the tires/rims back from polishing yesterday. I also spoke with a very nice person at HiSpec wheels about the unique hubcaps on them. He confirmed that they too were HiSpec and so I ordered four new ones to replace the fading/cracking chrome ones that are on there ($21/each). We should be good to go for 10 more years! I even bought a new truck just to pull this beast! Will post pictures of our travels to the Tetons and Durango in the next few weeks.

Scott

The trailer is so shiny that the light reflect in so the picture don't show the thru color.

[scottandgaye]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words. We really are proud of it and appreciate all of the support that we receive on this forum. I just got the tires/rims back from polishing yesterday. I also spoke with a very nice person at HiSpec wheels about the unique hubcaps on them. He confirmed that they too were HiSpec and so I ordered four new ones to replace the fading/cracking chrome ones that are on there ($21/each). We should be good to go for 10 more years! I even bought a new truck just to pull this beast! Will post pictures of our travels to the Tetons and Durango in the next few weeks.

Scott

[MNRon]

Beautiful!! We considered doing the same with our 2005 HH, NuWa made good 5ers. In our case we elected to buy a Vilano through the old NuWa Kansas RV center (they are wonderful) because of newer bells and whistles. I plan on going your route with our current rig 10yrs down the road…

[ReneeG]

BarneyS wrote:
. . . I agree that it is a whole lot of money but as already mentioned, you cannot purchase a new trailer these days that is anywhere near the quality of mine and some others for that kind of money.
By the way, in all my years of traveling, I have only been asked once, at check-in, what the age of my rig was.

That age rule is just used to keep obviously run down rigs out of the campground. If your rig looks good and is well cared for I don't know of any campground owner who will turn down your business.:)
Barney

Agree on both counts. We didn't go full body paint, but did have new laminated high quality decals applied, costly, but probably a third the price. The point is that it's worth maintaining a well built rig rather than buying new with how the current industry builds.

We too have never been asked on the age of our rig.

[ReneeG]

JKJavelin wrote:
That paint is absolutely fantastic. Those older gorgeous rigs are worth it. But please don't paint over beautiful wood on the inside. I think that would be tragic.
JK

Agree on the older rigs being worth it and also on not painting the inside! I do not like the current trend in painting the insides white. Ugh!

[JKJavelin]

That paint is absolutely fantastic. Those older gorgeous rigs are worth it. But please don't paint over beautiful wood on the inside. I think that would be tragic.
JK

[BarneyS]

I received an estimate from Mike based on description and photos of my 30 foot trailer. He estimates the cost would be around $9500 for full body paint. I imagine this does not include custom colors and graphics like the OP had done on his.

I am thinking I probably will have it done, either by him or someone closer to where the trailer is now. After watching his video and seeing the OP's trailer pictures I really like his work so it may well be worth the drive there and back.

I agree that it is a whole lot of money but as already mentioned, you cannot purchase a new trailer these days that is anywhere near the quality of mine and some others for that kind of money.
By the way, in all my years of traveling, I have only been asked once, at check-in, what the age of my rig was.

That age rule is just used to keep obviously run down rigs out of the campground. If your rig looks good and is well cared for I don't know of any campground owner who will turn down your business.:)
Barney

[FlatBroke]

Look great! NU WA is one of the worst for decals peeling.

[scottandgaye]

Rug wrote:
Mike does a great job.

You need to post it on the NuWa owners forum.

Thanks. I finally figured out how to host photos and link them so I posted it on the NuWa forum yesterday. I also sent a picture of it to Mike Mitchell and he responded with a very nice email about how he loves it when HitchHiker owners take such pride in their coaches. Shame they no longer build new units.

Scott

[scottandgaye]

Edd505 wrote:
Looks great but have you noticed any differance in staying cool with the black?

We just had it done over the winter (actually, between Labor Day and Thanksgiving). So, we have only taken it out a few times. The hottest was in Big Bend NP over Spring Break. It did get up to 103 one day, but no, we really didn't notice much in the way of heat build up. We will see this summer when we take it to the Tetons and then down to Durango, CO. I'll post an update on whether it gets hot or not.

Scott

[Edd505]

Looks great but have you noticed any differance in staying cool with the black?

[SDcampowneroper]

Fantastic exterior upgrade. Looks brand new, up to date and with new roof and interior should be a viable unit for many years to come.
We are in the same pickle- to replace cracked faded graphics or paint? Our 09 Carriage Cameo is looking aged. with over 50k miles on it the skirting has road chips, In this forum we did find a furum member supplier of new graphics exactly like factory to replace the old, and bought them. I am troubled to work on do the work to install them, or forgo them and paint.
Trouble with that is the walls and skirting will still show age and fading. It will have new graphics, weathered between. You must have seen the same issue which confirmed your decision to do full body paint.
Your Hitchhiker, our Carriage and many other units are built to last, their exterior apperance is not equal to the effects of age and road debris.
Question 1 is cost, wheather its worthwhile to strip graphics and do such prep as can be done before, or getting the pros in the paint shop to do it. There is no question that upgrading what you and we have is lesser cost than a new unit. A $ xx paint job is lessthan a $ XXXX new unit that wont fair better some years done the road.
Question 2 is how to evade the 10 year old unit police? Or are you- like us - avoid the places with age and type of unit who restrict unit age or class ?

[Jlsr]

WOW!! Absolutely stunning paint job ! It really looks fantastic and like a brand new rig ! Our Lifestyle was painted by Mikes and it still looks great today even though it's 6 years old.

[BobsYourUncle]

Wow!!
That looks beyond magnificent, Nice job!:C

This forum needs a code for 2 thumbs up. 🙂