Decals

[pakuma]

The decals on my 2013 29RKS are crazed and discolouring, my wife want to paint over them. Has anybody done that and if so what paint should we use?
Thanks

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by pakuma

The decals on my 2013 29RKS are crazed and discolouring, my wife want to paint over them. Has anybody done that and if so what paint should we use?
Thanks

I would remove the old decals which is a pain. They will show through both the primer and paint I think if not removed.

[BrooksFam]

I agree, removing them would be best if you can. There are multiple youtube videos on removing them and painting over them.

[notanlines]

In my opinion neither you nor she would be happy with the painting. And removing them at that time would be terribly difficult.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by notanlines

In my opinion neither you nor she would be happy with the painting. And removing them at that time would be terribly difficult.

I bought some chrome polish a few years ago at a bike rally; guy made it up as a secret remedy and sold it in 7UP plastic bottles and it worked great at decal removing. I used naptha for final clean up. I have seen a couple trailers painted and the work was decent and they looked unique and probably more tasteful than the garish decals over white filon.

[Mikendebbie]

I painted over crazed decals years ago on an Alpenlite I had at the time. I thought it looked good (better?) for a few months - but the decals kept cracking and peeling and my paint job did not help. I agree with the folks who say “better to remove the decals”.

[pakuma]

Thank you all, will have to remove them and then figure out what to do.

[chunker]

Originally Posted by pakuma

Thank you all, will have to remove them and then figure out what to do.

You might start the removal with a pressure washer. That will break loose the loose parts then you can continue with appropriate cleaner to soften and remove. Probably using plastic razor blades will be necessary. On my motorhome, which had full body paint, the front had a clear coating called "diamond shield". It protects the paint but eventually cracks and mold gets under and looks terrible. I used 3M adhesive remover which softened the coating and then the plastic razor blades to scrape it off. It may work on decals also but expect a lot of work.

[chuckster57]

Heat gun in low will soften the decal adhesive and make peeling them real easy.

[LewisB]

We had a 2008 Raptor 3712TS (40') from which we removed the decals. Watch YouTube videos - we basically used "rubber eraser wheels" to rub them off. Then a chemical cleaner to remove the left over adhesive. It took 2 of us several WEEKS to do this - talk about a lot of work!

That left us with a white trailer that now had shiny white paint where the decals had been surrounded by oxidized white paint where there were no decals.
Before decal removal:

After decal removal:

So I had to buy a very expensive Cyclo dual-head buffer and buffed the trailer with rubbing compound followed by two coats of sealer/wax. This took addional WEEKS to accomplish...but it looked great!

Problem was, within about 6 months it was back to looking like the second photo. So we re-did the rubbing compound and wax. Turns out, this needed to be done at least once per year, and more often if you didn't want the prior decal areas to keep showing.

There probably are better waxing/protection products available now - but the same amount of elbow grease will be needed to remove the decals.

For us, our conclusion was that we would NEVER do this again. I would trade a trailer in on a new one before I ever attempt to remove the decals. Yes, it can be done - but plan on a project that will consume your life for a matter of weeks! At 72, I'm also not a big fan of working days on end from high on a ladder. One slip could change your life, so count the cost!...JMHO

[CampNBrew2]

I watched a video once of a guy that placed tape around the edges of his graphics. Then he removed the graphics, and painted where they used to be. Removed the tape and had the same graphics but different color, now in paint.

The tape gives you the graphics shape without having to reinvent them/have the skill to lay it all out again. I can see however where it would be tough to remove the graphics and not disturb your fresh tape.