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trailer rivet question

gabagoo

New Member
I am by no means a wrap guy but will tinker with partials or flat wraps. I have a trailer here and it has those rather large rivets that can be unscrewed. In the past with partial wraps I have unscrewed them where ever the graphic hit and screwed them back in. With doing practically the whole side of an 8 foot trailer, could I unscrew the first half and then put them back in and then do the other half?
How do you guys deal with it?

Oh by the way I am Gabagoo aka Barry. Something seems to be wrong with my portal to get into this site and it would not accept my password, so to make a long story short I just created a new account.
 

unclebun

Active Member
The screws (not rivets) on a typical utility trailer need a #2 square bit to remove. Buy a bunch of the bits because if they get rounded at all, they ruin the screws. We remove them, then put them back after applying the lettering or wrap. We find that to be faster than doing a good job of heating and forming over the screws.
 

SIGNTIME

New Member
Leave them in, use the right material and they will stay nice for the life of the wrap. Also whoever does the removal won't hate you.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Are we talking actual screws or those 2" plastic button covers over top the Robertson #2 screws ??
 

SIGNTIME

New Member
My thoughts are, I'm wrapping a trailer for my customer, the customer and myself should understand anything over 5 years is beyond expectations. I plan on doing good work and providing good service and having repeat customers. I am not taking extra time to remove and reinstall screws from their trailer, risking striping the heads or the wood or aluminium they are in. Also when the trailer comes back for removal It's going to take a lot longer, costing my customer more money in the long run (and for the initial install), not to mention piss off my employees or myself. I would say the only thing they would be gaining with removing screws (and this could be argued) is it looks better within five feet, which is not the intended viewing distance. Wrapping over the screws with the right material and proper prep and installation, it will be a faster install, look great for years, remove much faster, and cost the customer less.
 

gabagoo

New Member
They are the screw type that a robertson screwdriver works perfect on. I always remove, but with such a large area my concern is that they are there to secure the panels to something inside....but if you guys say it's OK then I am good to go. I am using cast vinyl with cast laminate.
 

Jeff grossman

Living the dream
Years back I purchased a heat gun with a Teflon end for rivets ( 2 sizes) also came with a circular needled air release tool . Worked great - don’t know if they still make them , I’ll have to dig mine up and check the make . Let you know when I find it unless someone else knows who made it .
 

redprint

New Member
I haven't seen one trailer that wrapped over the screws where it wasn't pulling up and then cracking then pulling apart. It is almost impossible to keep all your vinyl around down around the screws. I take them out everytime. Some get stripped, some won't come out, you can buy new screws from any trailer dealer, some you can get slightly larger. For peace of mind, taking the screws out is a much cleaner design after a couple years after being installed. The screws will even started to corrode and no vinyl will stick long term to the screws. You also have the indentation in the head in which will eventually crack or get a hole in it because their nothing touching where the hole is. I have fought back and forth with others on this, and the amount of time to remove and reinstall is really easy and not that long. The problem screws is your only worry, and if you get extras from a trailer dealer, you are good to go.
 

TimToad

Active Member
They are the screw type that a robertson screwdriver works perfect on. I always remove, but with such a large area my concern is that they are there to secure the panels to something inside....but if you guys say it's OK then I am good to go. I am using cast vinyl with cast laminate.

The aluminum panels are usually glued or bonded in some way to the underlayment behind them. Otherwise if they are just held in with the screws only, they work themselves loose and rattle in the wind.

Like most things we take it on a case by case basis and decide if the graphic will look worse if we pull the screws or the number we'd need to remove outweighs the time needed to install over them and then massage the vinyl into them.

If we do pull them and the color behind them is a solid, primary color that we'd have a corresponding out of the can 1Shot match for, we'll dab them with some paint. There are several good tools for working on rivets and screws if you choose to leave them in.
 

Baz

New Member
I would never touch up screws on a trailer with paint. You end up with painted screws once the wrap is taken off or changed. Ends up looking like a mess.
IMO you either go over them or under and i won't babysit each screws either. If i go over them it will be a very quick pass with a Rolle-Pro.

I personally prefer to take them off if i can. The vinyl install goes much quicker.
 

equippaint

Active Member
Doesnt the skin lose tension if you take out the screws? Theres a trailer manufacturer by our shop and they have a thing that pulls the skin as they fasten it. Similar to a chain link fence stretcher.
 

TimToad

Active Member
I would never touch up screws on a trailer with paint. You end up with painted screws once the wrap is taken off or changed. Ends up looking like a mess.
IMO you either go over them or under and i won't babysit each screws either. If i go over them it will be a very quick pass with a Rolle-Pro.

I personally prefer to take them off if i can. The vinyl install goes much quicker.

So you don't heat the material and squeegee the material down snug to the edge of the rivet? A Rolle-Pro only gets them so close. If we leave them in, we use a variety of tools and 94 primer to seat them properly.

Nothing drives me crazier than seeing a truck or trailer going down the road with puffed up, separated wrap like a zip ready to pop after it failed and pulled away from the metal.

The painted screw head dilemma is easily solved with a can of acetone or laquer thinner and about ten minutes of soaking.
 

unclebun

Active Member
Doesnt the skin lose tension if you take out the screws? Theres a trailer manufacturer by our shop and they have a thing that pulls the skin as they fasten it. Similar to a chain link fence stretcher.

No. The aluminum is held on with double sided foam tape. And when you put the screws back in the same holes they came out of, everything is back where it was before. They are not under tension.
 

Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
So you don't heat the material and squeegee the material down snug to the edge of the rivet? A Rolle-Pro only gets them so close. If we leave them in, we use a variety of tools and 94 primer to seat them properly.

Nothing drives me crazier than seeing a truck or trailer going down the road with puffed up, separated wrap like a zip ready to pop after it failed and pulled away from the metal.

The painted screw head dilemma is easily solved with a can of acetone or laquer thinner and about ten minutes of soaking.

I too have painted the screws if I didn't wrap over them. Its a thoughtful touch.
 

unclebun

Active Member
Are the screws really bothersome?
 

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Texas_Signmaker

Very Active Signmaker
Are the screws really bothersome?
Not on that they are not...at least to me. Maybe that's why Toad said on a case-by-case basis.

They were on this puppy... I wrapped the whole thing in white instead of the customer repainting it. Painting the screws made it look a lot cleaner. Can you find the one screw I missed? Lol

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