Faded front caps - my solution!

[dave_smith1]

A bit of background. The grey front cap on my 2013 Arctic Fox FW began to fade in a few places after just over one year, then accelerated over the winter to a pretty ugly condition. I contacted the mfg. customer service & got the standard "All you have to do is polish every three months & use a good marine wax" reply. From what I've read on this as well as other forums that's the pretty universal response.

So I decided to take matters into my own hands by contacting a local paint shop: Quality Industrial Refinishers who specializes in trucks & RV's. I told the salesman Mark Sutherland my tale of woe & mentioned there were a number of people with this same problem; so he quoted me a flat price of $1,020 to strip the decals, sand, & paint with automotive base coat + clear that's good for anyone!

I dropped the trailer off on a Monday & picked it up following Friday and the trailer looked great! Along with Mark I worked with Lura in the office & Tim the shop mgr. - all great people. The place is not much to look at, but like most businesses up in North Portland that support the trucking industry they exist to provide a service; not appear on the cover of Hot Rod magazine!

They did find some impact damage that I agreed to fix for an extra charge, so I was out the door at $1,210. Looks good & much better than the crappy factory grey mess. If you go this route ping me & I'll give you directions to Quality as it's a bit tricky. (Don't ask me how I know!) 😉

See the pics here!

YMMV, but at least it now looks two years old instead of ten!

[dave_smith1]

Goducks - Is that in Eugene? If not can you share? I'm paying $72/mo. for open storage in Portland & that's pretty darn good. My last place was $99!

[dave_smith1]

PS - the last covered storage place I looked at that had bays long enough to completely enclose my FW quoted me $245/mo. I would have made up that $1200 in about 7 months considering what I pay now for open air parking. Still, would be worth it keep it clean & dry in the winter! James is the guy with the hot setup in Illinois...

[goducks10]

Lets see covered storage around here would be apr $60-80.00 a month.
12 months @$70.00 = $840.00. 2 years and that's $1680.00. I think the OP will come out ahead with his paint job.

But it is too bad the way NW drop the ball on the fading cap problem. They won't even offer free decals as a consolation.

[dave_smith1]

downtheroad: Good point on covered storage! I didn't on my previous trailer because fading wasn't an issue after six years, but that cap was white. I will look around but it's pretty scarce in the Portland area unless you pony up the big bucks!

James: Thanks for the decal offer! The Superduty letters you made me for my truck are still looking good BTW.

[tvfrfireman]

For those of you recommending covered storage, that is a great idea. When we ordered our trailer, we opted for the automotive paint due to our rig being on the road six months a year. If you don't use it much than covered is a great option.

[Heap64]

Good Job Dave,

Its too bad that Northwood isn't stepping up to the plate and helping you guys with the grey caps out. Hopefully the new supplier they started using this year has a better product. I too haven't ever liked the "crazy fox" I have been tempted to remove mine and make ones like they went back to this year. If I end up making some, I will reach out to you and send you some for your sidewall so you can get rid of the others if you want 🙂

-James

[Let_s_Travel]

Wow, glad you're happy and have such a great attitude about it! A good lesson for all of us when things go wrong. I don't think I'd be feeling so good about $1200 out of pocket on a brand new coach. Great Arctic Fox info without any negative comments. Kudos!

[gbopp]

Mr.Mark wrote:
Very nice paint job! I like the cleaner front too!

MM.

X2. I think it looks better without the decal.

[downtheroad]

Nice rig and it looks great.
But, for $1200 to clean it up after only 2 years, I'd might consider finding covered storage.

Ours is much older and still looks brand new...the secret is covered storage.

[Mr_Mark1]

Very nice paint job! I like the cleaner front too!

MM.