Fire Truck decaling on the rear part

[reQ]

Seen this topic few months ago but can't locate it. I am pretty sure its printed on 680CR but need to make sure i will be doing the right thing. There is no "pre-made" type of material for this job, right?
P.S. Ignore first image, attached wrong one & don't know how to remove it.

 

[letterman7]

Yes, there are pre-made panels for those trucks. Only a few companies offer them, and they aren't cheap. They start with the lime green and overlay the red translucent. I've always done mine with strips of 6". Time consuming, but offers the same end look. If it's a new truck, have them leave off or remove the lights and any other additions to the rear - makes the panels go much quicker. And you must use the 3M DG3 - it's NAFTA standard.

 

[reQ]

Yes, there are pre-made panels for those trucks. Only a few companies offer them, and they aren't cheap. They start with the lime green and overlay the red translucent. I've always done mine with strips of 6". Time consuming, but offers the same end look. If it's a new truck, have them leave off or remove the lights and any other additions to the rear - makes the panels go much quicker. And you must use the 3M DG3 - it's NAFTA standard.

Thank you for pointing me to the right direction!

 

[Gino]

We too, do it with individual 6" strips. Everything is removed and put back afterwards.

 

[reQ]

Okay. Just to be clear. I will be doing back part of vehicle only. 3M DG3 series is diamond grade (super thick material that is used for traffic signs) Is that the materials that needs to be used? Or 680CR?

 

[jfiscus]

Okay. Just to be clear. I will be doing back part of vehicle only. 3M DG3 series is diamond grade (super thick material that is used for traffic signs) Is that the materials that needs to be used? Or 680CR?

Either 3M Diamond Grade, or Reflexite (Oracal product) striping meet NFPA standards for apparatus rear reflectivity.

Both are sold in 6" strips specifically for this purpose. You will have to disassemble/reassemble the rear of the truck. Match what is on the rest of their fleet currently or use the Reflexite if they will let you, as it is MUCH easier to work with. 3M Diamond Grade is NOT opaque, so if there are painted stripes on the rear of the apparatus currently, then you will have to wrap the rear with white BEFORE applying the striping.

 

[reQ]

Either 3M Diamond Grade, or Reflexite (Oracal product) striping meet NFPA standards for apparatus rear reflectivity.

Both are sold in 6" strips specifically for this purpose. You will have to disassemble/reassemble the rear of the truck. Match what is on the rest of their fleet currently or use the Reflexite if they will let you, as it is MUCH easier to work with. 3M Diamond Grade is NOT opaque, so if there are painted stripes on the rear of the apparatus currently, then you will have to wrap the rear with white BEFORE applying the striping.

There is nothing on the vehicles right now. They are all black, some dark green & some white. So in this case i have to use 3M 4000 series diamond grade reflective + 1170 electrocut for red stripes, correct?

 

[jfiscus]

Post a photo of these rears, these sound really odd color-wise for fire apparatus. If they aren't concerned with NFPA compliance, you could do 3MIJ680CR printed chevrons, but they aren't as visible/reflective so they don't meet the standards. I would try to do them NFPA compliant though, as it is supposedly mandatory even though we still do a lot of non-compliant trucks.

 

[reQ]

I think i did not explain it properly. its Emergency Management & Fire Safety (Government org) so they are not fire fighter only. Attaching rear photo of one of their trucks

 

[letterman7]

I didn't catch that you were in Canada. NFPA for vehicles may not apply there. From a quick search it looks like Canada only adopted NFPA certification in 2014.. you may want to talk with the department to see if they are required to have DG3 material. Local emergency management teams around here are not required to have DG3, only active fire departments. Which may be a good thing for your project - those rivets will cause issues with the DG3, the Reflexite a little less. Personally, I'm surprised Reflexite carries the NFPA stamp of approval - in my experiments the reflective nature is much less than the DG3.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

Orafol was demonstrating a new product at FDIC in Indianapolis (big firefighter conference) when I was there a couple weeks ago. They had sheets of pre printed red and yellow chevrons, that came in left and right sets. According to the lady I talked to it was repositionable and conformable. I'll have to dig through some stuff to find the brochure they gave me, but it looked pretty cool. I do a lot of chevrons printed on 680CR. There is a lot of confusion about it, but according to 3M, 680CR meets the NFPA specifications to be used for chevrons.

 

[jfiscus]

Orafol was demonstrating a new product at FDIC in Indianapolis (big firefighter conference) when I was there a couple weeks ago. They had sheets of pre printed red and yellow chevrons, that came in left and right sets. According to the lady I talked to it was repositionable and conformable. I'll have to dig through some stuff to find the brochure they gave me, but it looked pretty cool. I do a lot of chevrons printed on 680CR. There is a lot of confusion about it, but according to 3M, 680CR meets the NFPA specifications to be used for chevrons.

I believe that was "converted" material, FirehouseDecals.com sells it. It isn't repositionable or that conformable or air release like 680CVR though; unless they have a new product out. I'd definitely be interested in seeing the brochure.

 

[reQ]

Orafol was demonstrating a new product at FDIC in Indianapolis (big firefighter conference) when I was there a couple weeks ago. They had sheets of pre printed red and yellow chevrons, that came in left and right sets. According to the lady I talked to it was repositionable and conformable. I'll have to dig through some stuff to find the brochure they gave me, but it looked pretty cool. I do a lot of chevrons printed on 680CR. There is a lot of confusion about it, but according to 3M, 680CR meets the NFPA specifications to be used for chevrons.

If i can use 680CR i would love to, because its easy to install

 

[J Hill Designs]

Orafol was demonstrating a new product at FDIC in Indianapolis (big firefighter conference) when I was there a couple weeks ago. They had sheets of pre printed red and yellow chevrons, that came in left and right sets.

pardon me if my spatial reasoning isn't up to par, but wouldn't you just turn the material 180 deg. to get left vs right?

 

[Gino]

pardon me if my spatial reasoning isn't up to par, but wouldn't you just turn the material 180 deg. to get left vs right?

I don't think that'll work. You'll have the same exact setup. I believe you only need to go 90 degrees, instead of a full 180.

 

[J Hill Designs]

I don't think that'll work. You'll have the same exact setup. I believe you only need to go 90 degrees, instead of a full 180.

told ya my spatial reasoning wasn't up to par

 

[Gino]

told ya my spatial reasoning wasn't up to par

You musta been using your unfruited eye, instead of your good eye.

 

[SellersSign&Design]

It will mess with your mind, but you can't flip a sheet of chevron 180 degrees and have it facing the opposite direction. I've learned that the hard way haha. You can flip it 90 degrees, but the reason they are offering a "left" and "right" is so you can buy rolls of 36" wide or whatever width material and use it that way.