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Magnets for Aluminum Body Vehicles

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Renato Pinto

Graphics Manager
Hey guys,

Does anyone know of a material that can be used on the new Ford F-150s?

We had a huge order of magnets that we sent out and turns out, all their vehicles had an aluminum body.. *facepalm*

They want something that has the same properties of a magnet. They want to be able to take the decals off as they need.

Has anybody dealt with this before?

Thanks!
 
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unclebun

Active Member
There are no magnets for aluminum, and despite the fact that there will be two different solutions offered here by purveyors and adherents (pun intended) of two different technologies, there is no product that is a direct substitute for the magnetic sign that can be used on non-ferrous metal bodied vehicles. Either they don't have the durability of magnetics, or they don't have the reusability of magnetics.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Like mentioned, there is no such thing in reality. They either need to change the trucks manufacturer or just direct letter them.
 
eahicks

eahicks

Magna Cum Laude - School of Hard Knocks
Glass Adhere works, laminated they are fairly thick and can last quite a while.
 
rjssigns

rjssigns

Active Member
Instant One Media makes a material that's supposed to work. Got a sample and gave some to a client of mine, but haven't heard back yet.
 
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signman315

Signmaker
I do some blockout banner with Gudy 2 sided window laminate (double sided adhesive, high tack on one side applied to banner, low tack on other side that sticks it to the truck). It acts a lot like a magnet and can be removed/reused, biggest downfall is that the vehicle needs to be cleaned prior to removal and customer needs to have clean release paper to place them on for storage, otherwise they pick up a lot of debris on the adhesive side. Not perfect by far but pretty close to a magnet alternative...I've been doing them for awhile and customers haven't complained about them. My other go to solution is to explain to the customer that they can get low quality, temporary decals for significantly cheaper than magnets, making it cost comparable over a given period of time to buy them in bulk and just throw them out when done.
 
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TimToad

Active Member
jsmoritz2000 said:
I agree although the manufacturer doesn't recommend lamination to prevent edge curling.

EDIT: Oh yeah, and they changed the name. It's no longer Glass AdHere, it is now Glass APeel.
Click to expand...

We've used this material on a few non-glass surfaces like truck doors and it's fine the first time it goes on a sparkling clean surface but convincing the client to really clean the surface regularly and before applying them all the time is worth a handout and disclaimer of some sort.
 
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unclebun

Active Member
TimToad said:
We've used this material on a few non-glass surfaces like truck doors and it's fine the first time it goes on a sparkling clean surface but convincing the client to really clean the surface regularly and before applying them all the time is worth a handout and disclaimer of some sort.
Click to expand...

That and the need to save the carrier paper in pristine clean condition is also a major problem.
 
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ikarasu

Premium Subscriber
We had one client determined to use magnets. He pulled his doors apart and glued some really strong magnets to the inside panels... I was surprised but it worked and the magnets held on really well.

Costly and time consuming... But if they need magnets... It is an option.
 
S

SheBeau

New Member
S

SheBeau

New Member
I've seen magnets left on cars so long that they fuse solid! Unfortunately, no solvent melts magnet off paint. LOL
 
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bannertime

Active Member
SheBeau said:
I've seen magnets left on cars so long that they fuse solid! Unfortunately, no solvent melts magnet off paint. LOL
Click to expand...

I've seen this too, but only on GM vehicles. My dad left his magnets on his older 07 F150 for at least a year if not two, and it came off just fine. One of our customers left his on for a few months and it started peeling the paint of when he tried to remove it from his late 2000s Chevy truck.
 
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