Preferred material for enclosed trailer wraps

[ChaseO]

Hey guys/gals, I was wondering what your go-to media is for enclosed trailers. A little background on me, I print with a Roland (eco-sol) and have typically used Oracal 3751RA/290G, and later moved to proslide for the wraps. Now that that line is gone, I'm using 3951RA+. I have a fleet of trailers coming up and will probably hire a couple of guys to do the installs that I have been using over the last year or so. They do not like oracal for wrapping in general, although they have never tried anything I have printed/laminated with it. They prefer 3M or Avery, so for the wraps I have had them do, I have used IJ180cv3-10/8518 or MPI1105EZRS/DOL1360Z depending on stock at my suppliers. My biggest question is if there is a different line I should use for old trailers to get wrapped, permanently. I want something that will conform to the screws as good as possible, and go down good. I'm not familiar with some of the other 180 lines, and I can't tell that much from reading specs. My go to supplier is primarily Oracal, so he doesn't have a lot of insight on the 3m lines. What do you like best? We are starting this job off with 15 or so trailers, so I am trying to do my homework on the best material to use. Thanks!

 

[regardstobuck]

We do quite a few box trailers and have tried quite a few different manufactures. When you have flat panels like a trailer you want a vinyl that will stretch little as you squeegee. We used to use a lot of cast vinyls like ij180 cv3 and 1105. Great products if your wrapping something with curves, not so much on flat surface, they build tension too easy if you’re not squeegeeing evenly. We actually switched to a calendared vinyl arlon 4600 and install times dropped by 30% or more. It positions well and conforms really well around rivets. The Adhesive is awesome as well.

We haven’t looked back. Not to mention it saves you a ton on material cost. It really is a game changer for us.

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

Never calandered in my shop. Always cast. Period.

I don’t care for Oracal. I find 3M and Avery cast materials to be better.

Avery is about $2/sqft (1105 vinyl and 1360 lam)
3M is about $2.15/sqft (180cv3 vinyl and 8518 lam)

Plus your ink cost…..


Cars, trucks, vans, work trailers, 53’ semi trailers……never any issues here with either of those.

 

[ChaseO]

Never calandered in my shop. Always cast. Period.

I don’t care for Oracal. I find 3M and Avery cast materials to be better.

Avery is about $2/sqft (1105 vinyl and 1360 lam)
3M is about $2.15/sqft (180cv3 vinyl and 8518 lam)

Plus your ink cost…..


Cars, trucks, vans, work trailers, 53’ semi trailers……never any issues here with either of those.

I'm with ya, I use very limited cal, and never on a vehicle, although the cal stuff has come a long way in the last few years. So on the 180 series, have you ever tried anything other than the cv3?

 

[CanuckSigns]

Arlon SLX+ works well and is a bit less expensive than the others. Ive used AutoMark from General Formulations in the past on trailers without rivits and it works well, it has a higher initial tack than i would like though.

 

[Krissy Louderback]

We were having a lot of issues with 3M-IJ180, we switched to Avery 1105 a few years ago and haven't looked back.

 

[rydods]

We use Avery 2105 with a 1360 cast lam on enclosed trailers and pretty much everything flat or slightly curvy. Not over rivets.

 

[Modern Ink Signs]

I'm with ya, I use very limited cal, and never on a vehicle, although the cal stuff has come a long way in the last few years. So on the 180 series, have you ever tried anything other than the cv3?

Yes we have.

I’ve use or installed all of the 180 line. Also 380/480/780(? The reflective wrap line). I believe the cv3 line is the one that 3M is making the most of and the others may or may not be in stock at vendors.

 

[signheremd]

We use Oracal 3951RA and Avery 1105EZ and though adhesive color is different shades of gray they perform identically. That said, we use Arlon SLX+ (low initial tack) for wraps. On all of these we prefer Oraquard 290 laminate. Grimco offers their Briteline WrapCast vinyl (think Arlon SLX+) and Briteline WrapCast Overlaminate (think 3M 8518) and they both work very well for wraps. We just did a trailer with Briteline on the sides and Arlon on the door and the whites matched perfectly (which they should as they are the same material). The best removability I have seen has been with 3M products. The best overall quality has been the Orafol products. That said, Arlon and Avery are good too and Arlon has been a mainstay wrap for us for a long time. I think if your installers could not see the brand name they would like all of these about the same...