Trailer graphics - old

[Stacey K]

Hi All - I have a customer looking to get new graphics on this trailer. Trailer itself is in good repair but they had chrome vinyl and its a little old to say the least. The customer wants me to print on sheet and go right over the top. I told him you are still going to see a ghost from the old lettering in certain light because the edges of the vinyl.

Can he sand this with fine sandpaper to smooth some of the edges and then I put a panel of printed vinyl over the top? I think this is going to look like crap and I don't want to do a crappy job. Thoughts?

 

[unclebun]

Take the old vinyl off. It's the only way.

 

[Billct2]

Yep, gonna look like crap. How about an .063 aluminum overlay, glued and pop riveted. Probably cheaper than the time it would take to clean.

 

[Jeremiah]

There is a small rv decal company that removes the old letters or design located down the road. They use Razor blade scraping to remove old stuff , 20 to 40 hours, by the hour .

 

[WhiskeyDreamer]

if you don't want to do a crappy job, then remove the vinyl or make a sign that is attached to the trailer instead of graphics. the reason is two fold. first, it's gonna look like shit no matter what you do to that vinyl. whether you sand it or go over top. second, and probably more importantly, the new graphics you're applying will only be as good as the vinyl underneath. if that old crappy chrome fails, your new print is going to fail.

if it were me, i'd tell the client either he needs to remove the graphics or he needs to pay me to remove them. but either way, the surface has to be prepped for the application of the new graphics.

 

[rjssigns]

Old chrome vinyl is the worst. If it was my job I would sand, repaint, install graphics. Could also send it to a body shop. Acetone is always an option.
Turtle Wax decal/adhesive remover takes the powder coat off of ACM. Ask me how I know...

I do like Bill's suggestion of an overlay. Since you're in Wisconsin check SI Metals. They have prefinished "stock car" aluminum.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

If you leave them on, trim off the curled edges with a razor and go over the old. Those small trailers are so cheap, it hardly seems worth doing much more when it'll cost close to what a new one goes for.

 

[Stacey K]

Thanks everyone! I called him and he is going to bring it to his brother who owns an auto shop to remove the graphics. I told him either they need to be 100% removed or we could use an overlay. He doesn't care if it looks crappy but I said I DO, he understood so all should be good!

 

[Gino]

And another happy ending, and tomorrow is Friday.

 

[highrolling24]

What works good for me on hard to remove graphics are those eraser things, they are messy but clean it off real good and leave the metal pretty much adhesive free that you just have to give it a quick wipe off.

 

[Stacey K]

What works good for me on hard to remove graphics are those eraser things, they are messy but clean it off real good and leave the metal pretty much adhesive free that you just have to give it a quick wipe off.

I have used these and they work good! The problem for me is it's just me and this is an 18' trailer, 2 sided and the rear. Last time it took me a few days to finish one trailer because I had to take breaks because my arms got sore...and I said I would NEVER do it again LOL

 

[petepaz]

the vinyl zapper works good but you have to be careful on the aluminum panels. if you go too heavy in an area it can remove the paint also...just a PSA