Decals, graphics

[brayr]

I have a 2010 Spree by KZ and the decals are peeling off. Does anybody know what causes this and if I spend the money to replace them is there any way to prevent this from happening again? The decals from the factory are expensive and it is recommended to have a body shop so the work which will be expensive.
Spreeman Ray

[RVcircus]

Oldme wrote:

rjsurfer wrote:
Most of my decals are faded and peeling, I don't not want the expense and labor of replacing the factory decals, as others have said the manufacturer should pay me to have them replaced.

I'm thinking of stripping everything off and use the shadows from the old decals as a guide and paint new decals on minus the manufaturer and model name.

Anyone do this before? What type of spray paint would you use? I'm guessing some auto detailers pin striping tape would help?

Thanks

Ron W.

Quality products here:
http://www.eastwood.com/paints/pinstriping.html

If you go the paint route, striping & lettering brushes take a lot of practice to get decent with. I would recommend using fine line tape to layout and mask your designs.

1 Shot is a great paint. You'll also need reducer & hardener to go along with it.

[Oldme]

rjsurfer wrote:
Most of my decals are faded and peeling, I don't not want the expense and labor of replacing the factory decals, as others have said the manufacturer should pay me to have them replaced.

I'm thinking of stripping everything off and use the shadows from the old decals as a guide and paint new decals on minus the manufaturer and model name.

Anyone do this before? What type of spray paint would you use? I'm guessing some auto detailers pin striping tape would help?

Thanks

Ron W.

Quality products here:
http://www.eastwood.com/paints/pinstriping.html

[dadmomh]

Agree that sun and heat are your worst enemy. We stored our HTT and now TT undercover 24/7 and with the HTT our rear bunkend decal, which got the full blast of sun all day, was getting pretty tired looking and the edges were curling. We ordered the ROO on roller skates from FR for about $50 incl shipping. Getting the old one off is not hard, just time consuming.....hair dryer and patience. Putting the new one on is not hard, but again tedious so you get it lined up right. There will be a shadow where the old one was and to get it as close to that as possible takes a bit of effort. We found in putting the name on our old boat that the decal manufacturer suggested some Dawn and water solution over the area, spread out the decal and the water lets you have some time to move it without damage. Get a wallpaper squeegee and gently squeegee out the water when it's lined up right. Let it dry and then many have had great success using 303 Protectant on their decals and swear it prevents damage. Depending on the size of the area you're doing, the cost could be up there, but for a smaller area, we didn't think $50 was bad.

[godfreyc]

rjsurfer wrote:
Most of my decals are faded and peeling, I don't not want the expense and labor of replacing the factory decals, as others have said the manufacturer should pay me to have them replaced.

I'm thinking of stripping everything off and use the shadows from the old decals as a guide and paint new decals on minus the manufaturer and model name.

Anyone do this before? What type of spray paint would you use? I'm guessing some auto detailers pin striping tape would help?

Thanks

Ron W.

I saw this done on a Malibu by Skyline which is what I have when it was up for resale at a Camping World. It actually looked better than my decals ever did and I have contemplated doing it myself but honestly I just don't know if it's that important.

[irishtom29]

I wish the decals on mine would peel off, I think the graphics on modern trailers are hideous. Just a plain paint job would be aces with me.

[LVJJJ]

Sun (which I wish he had more of here).

Owned a new Arctic Fox when lived in Las Vegas. After a year in the hot sun I noticed that some of the decals were beginning to separate and the skin beginning to delaminate.

Here in the rainy Pacific NW, recently had a 1985 Wilderness with perfect condition decals.

[Thom02099]

Can anyone give an estimate of the cost difference, ie, getting and installing new decals from the factory/manufacturer versus going to a graphics shop and having the work done?

[dclark1946]

tsetsaf wrote:
Best bet is to either paint new ones or hire a local graphic shop to custom cut new ones. With the later you can get copies of the digital files to replace the replacements in 5 years.

That is what I did with our 2007 KZ Spree. The decals started cracking when the trailer was about 4 years old. I suspect poor quality decals since different colors were much worse than others. There were actually some indications of decal problems when we bought the trailer.

I took head on digital images of all six sides and had the decals made from a premium vinyl material. The graphics shop had trouble getting the badly cracked decals off. Once the old ones were off the new install went pretty quickly.

Dick

[RVcircus]

UV will shrink some vinyl and can break down the adhesive. I would recommend talking to a sign shop which can design and install replacement graphics. Ask that they us cast as opposed to calendared vinyl.

[scbwr]

On our Sunline, I just removed them and cleaned off any residue with WD-40. The trailer had aluminum siding.

[tsetsaf]

rjsurfer wrote:
Most of my decals are faded and peeling, I don't not want the expense and labor of replacing the factory decals, as others have said the manufacturer should pay me to have them replaced.

I'm thinking of stripping everything off and use the shadows from the old decals as a guide and paint new decals on minus the manufaturer and model name.

Anyone do this before? What type of spray paint would you use? I'm guessing some auto detailers pin striping tape would help?

Thanks

Ron W.

You would need automotive quality paint... spray paint will not cut it.

[tsetsaf]

Best bet is to either paint new ones or hire a local graphic shop to custom cut new ones. With the later you can get copies of the digital files to replace the replacements in 5 years.

[rjsurfer]

Most of my decals are faded and peeling, I don't not want the expense and labor of replacing the factory decals, as others have said the manufacturer should pay me to have them replaced.

I'm thinking of stripping everything off and use the shadows from the old decals as a guide and paint new decals on minus the manufaturer and model name.

Anyone do this before? What type of spray paint would you use? I'm guessing some auto detailers pin striping tape would help?

Thanks

Ron W.

[Aluminum_Siding]

Sun. I keep mine covered. I also keep it clean and waxed regularly. After each trip monthly I wash then 303 Aerospace goes on the decals. it's 3 years old and decals look good as new.