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Economical wrap kit for box trucks

acothran

New Member
We have used 3M IJ180C-V3 w/ 8518; Oracal 3951RA w/ 290; Oracal 3551RA w/ 290; Avery MPI-1005-EZRS w/ DOL1060; and General Formulation Automark Concept 230 w/ 231. Just ballpark numbers, most of the premium cast wrap films and lams are going to fall into the $1.50 sq/ft price range. Going to 3551RA will save you about a $0.25 sq/ft which will be about $75 on an average box truck. We found that while 3551RA is a great product, we can save some time on labor by using a better product like IJ180C-V3. For us, the savings don't really add up. By saving $0.25 sq/ft, the difference isn't remarkable enough to pass significant savings on to a customer or put significant profit in our bank account.

With the General Formulations Automark Concept 230 & 231, we found a product that is recommended for box trucks (even w/ rivets) and costs in the $0.75 sq/ft price range. I can save $225 in vinyl on a 300 sq/ft box truck. That is a significant difference. We wrapped one of our company's 53ft semi trailers with this product and it works. We installed it about 6 months ago and it have not had any problems, even around rivets. It's not as easy to work with as IJ180, or other cast films, but for the money, it is usable. It also gives us a product to use in case we working on a tight budget.

Hope this helps.

Allen
 

thewood

New Member
Most of the so called high performance calendared films require a cast laminate. If your using a cast laminate you may as well go with cast vinyl. The difference is about .30 cents a sq. ft.

I agree. I never used calendared film on vehicles--even if they are of the "high performance" calendared variety.
 

MikePro

New Member
oracal 3551/290 most definately as my "economical"... IJ180Cv3 all the way for anything else we sell as "high quality". No major difference, for flat areas, but I've never had issues with 3M when it comes to perma-conform.

its worth the money, for me, to have piece of mind when it comes to longevity of the product, but for simple curves and flat surface applications I go with oracal to pass the savings on to our client.
 
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