Paint peeling off trailer

[D&Tgraphics]

Ok So here is my issue. I was putting vinyl on a trailer today and when we were pulling off the transfer tape a ton of the paint came with it. It is an 08 black trailer. I have never seen anything like this happen before. It was in very good shape and wasn't repainted or anything. It was factory paint. We called the dealer to see what they thought and they said something to the effect that those black panels are actually ran through a printer or something and the black is actually an ink. I'm thinking a flatbed but that doesn't make any sense. The manufaturer is out of business now. We tried calling them.
We have a possible solution to fix the effected areas, it will add cost to the job and our customer is understanding but, what a pain in the ***. It's been a hell day. Any ideas or thoughts on what could have caused this. Improper paint job or something?

 

[ironchef]

Ayayai, i feel for you brotha

 

[signage]

It looks like it wasn't prepped properly before painting.

 

[Gino]

I'd bet you almost anything, that has been re-painted..... and poorly.

If you look around a little, you should find some evidence of over-spray somewhere.

Another question would be...... on your second picture, who put that white panel on the black ?? You're not gonna get a factory paint job with a cut-out panel on it. Someone's screwed up here.

This shouldn't cost you a thing. I'd be right upfront with the customer and tell him, sorry, but this isn't my fault. We can fix it, but it's gonna take time and some money.

 

[Jillbeans]

Holy crap!
I suspect a repaint as well.
I wish I had a solution for you.

Love....Jill

 

[D&Tgraphics]

Gino, that white panel was applied by us. It's part of a hammer handle.
This not costing us a dime. My customer understands that he is going to have added cost. It's not our fault.

 

[qmr55]

Not necessarily a repaint. I have a friend in the sheet metal business and he has had panels come in factory painted that are just simply a bad batch. As a lot of you know, paint is never perfect. To tell if its a repaint as Gino said, look for over spray. Another thing to look for is are the panels scuffed big time like they were sanded down to bare surface for a repaint? If they don't appear sanded and you don't see multiple layers (you will be able to tell if they were layered at different times), then it is most likely factory paint.

 

[Mike Paul]

If it was repainted the Torx screws would be black.
Looks like original paint but defective. It's hard to tell from the pics
because some of the screws look silver and others look Black...

 

[D&Tgraphics]

Yeah I highly doubt re-paint. There was only 1 layer of paint, the aluminum was very smooth and it only effected 2 of the 3 sides. The drivers side went on perfectly. It was only the passenger side and back that had issues. I'm assuming a bad batch that was used on those 2 sides.

 

[Ragin Cajun]

Yeah I highly doubt re-paint. There was only 1 layer of paint, the aluminum was very smooth and it only effected 2 of the 3 sides. The drivers side went on perfectly. It was only the passenger side and back that had issues. I'm assuming a bad batch that was used on those 2 sides.

They painted over bare metal.....never primed it.

 

[fmg]

Same happened to me a few years back.Guarantee you this is aftermarket paint job.

 

[PrintzandPatternz]

I had a van that I stripped vinyl off of and it took paint right with it all the way to primer. I called the customer and they knew it wasnt my fault. They had the van repainted two years before I got it to strip and applied the graphics on the very next day. It was a faulty paint job and I would say that was just a faulty aftermarket paint

 

[Marlene]

did he buy this new or used? it looks like maybe they replaced the side panels and whe they did, they just painted aluminum without primer. on the back of the black that is coming off, is there any look of it being primed or is it kind of shiny black?

 

[Baz]

They painted over bare metal.....never primed it.

This is what i think this is also. One finishing coat over bare metal. To re-do it properly you would have to remove all of the existing paint and start over using proper primer and top coat. If not you are risking the same thing hapening again.

 

[qmr55]

If you are repainting this check out etching primer. Works wonders on aluminum.

 

[Z SIGNS]

Ah the feeling you get when pulling transfer tape off and the paint is coming with it.Not a good moment.My condolences to you.

 

[D&Tgraphics]

Thanks for all the replys. The customer understood the problem and just wanted to fix the issues and move on. He understands the risks and knows that there are issues that might come up in the future. We did a complete coverage on the back door to cover up the huge blank areas and then we prime etched and painted the spots the came off between some of the letters. We then cut new lettering and overlayed. It's DEFINETLY polishing a turd but it worked. Not the way I would usually do things but he just wanted to get it done and out the door. It was a bad layout to boot too. He changed every cool thing I had planned. Oh well. I guess sometimes you have crap like this happen. Good thing is, he was extremely happy with how everything turned out.
So, ok, now tear me a new one for everything I did wrong. Get set, go........

 

[signgirl]

Been there and done that! It had to be repainted and not prepped right

 

[Wraptrick]

Looks good!