Caring for the decals

[ocho]

I was just reading some older threads here and there seems to be a lot of front cap decals fading or cracking, or both. My 2012 Raptor Velocity is doing the same thing. Fading badly at the very top where the cap meets the roof and cracking in a few other places. Does anyone know of a solution for this? IT would appear that these decals are not as UV resistant as they should be. I mean these thing live outside for most of us, so a better quality decal should be in order. If it is a UV issue, then a protectant should help, which raises the question, Wax it or use a Armour-All type product. Im not sure what the decals are made from or if these products would help or hurt!! Anyone?

[Festus2]

Instead of Armour-All, try using Aerospace303 Protectant. It is used by many of our forum members not only on decals but also on the roof, on slide seals and some even use it as an application on the entire exterior. I use it all the time and it hasn't "hurt" anything yet. You can apply it directly to the decals without waxing them first.

[ocho]

Is this readily available? Have you noticed the decals don't fade or crack?

[Desert185]

I'm considering an Adco Tyvek cover currently on sale at CW. 5er prices start at $280. My only concern is the desert getting under the cover with the wind beating on the cover itself. Might do more damage than I'm trying to prevent. I see some covers locally. Has anyone on the forum tried them?

Might have to get another conex and build a truss cover for the trailer. The desert is always trying to reclaim itself and it doesn't take long for neglect to contribute to the process.

[gilpinbrewer]

I have a couple of comments on this as I have had a lot of experience with both 303 and Adco covers on my previous rig. First I used 303 religiously on my previous trailer and had an Adco cover on it and it was covered a good 8 months out of the year. Even though this is how I did it, my front decals split and became brittle. This was the only decal that did this and it was the one that faced south almost all year. Also the door insert on that side started to fade bad as well. The structure around the door still looked like new, so there was definitely a difference in construction of the fiberglass. I live in a windy area and high elevation so the wind can be upwards of 90MPH during the winter and with the high elevation the UV is that much stronger and just tears stuff up quickly. I went through 2 covers in 6 years because the wind just shreds them. I just got my new 371 in July and I do not plan on buying a cover for it. Since the 303 did not work for me in this situation I switched to Protect All. It is a bit lower cost and easier to get. I am sure your mileage will vary, but this is my experience with them living at 9000 ft above sea level. If the cap on this rig starts to show signs of fading, I will probably go the full wrap like someone did on this forum did with theirs.

[Desert185]

Car cover shred. Been there. I live in almost the same the environment as you. 5400' and desert wind. I just used Top Gun Supreme with UV protectant on mine, but its only a matter of time. Looks like the conex "barn" solution might the best right now.

for the feedback.

[JRTJH]

This is my opinion based on my experiences so yours may vary greatly depending on where you are and what you are trying to achieve.

First, when we were in Louisiana, our decals faded quickly, in Michigan, not nearly so much. So the take-away is that location has as much to do with how your decals survive and remain unfaded as how you care for them.

Second, in Louisiana I used Armor all, wax, surface sealant, trailer covers, tarps to shade the front decals and a host of other things. My neighbor left his RV sitting next to mine (between our houses) and he never even washed his RV, much less cared for the decals. His decals looked about the same as mine after several years. So the take-away is that if you've got decals that are subject to cracking/fading, there's not a lot you can do to keep them looking "new" in the out years. Fading and cracking are probably going to occur regardless of how valiant your efforts may be.

Third, we currently live in Michigan where the heat and UV rays are significantly less than in the southern parts of the US. I've seen almost no fading of the decals on our Springdale (3+ years) or on our Cougar (1+ years). I do use Aerospace 303 monthly on the decals. So the take-away is that UV rays and heat probably have more to do with decal destruction than what you wipe onto the surface.

Fourth, We store our RV inside during the winter (no UV, wind, blowing sand or blowing snow damage). We've done this since we moved up here in 2009. Because of the climate here, that means that our RV is indoors about half the year. For someone who stores their RV outdoors without a cover, their UV exposure is probably twice what ours is for the entire year. So, the take-away is that limiting UV exposure probably helps significantly.

No matter where you live, if you can shield the RV from the sun and wind as much as possible, your decals will "thank you" but, in the long run, unless you're the type that only tows and camps at night, you can't avoid exposing your RV to the sun. No matter how hard you try to prevent damage to the decals, I think the best you can expect is to delay the damage for a time. How long can you delay the damage? That's probably more dependent on how much you shade the RV from the sun than it is with what product you put on the decals to "prevent damage".

Do what you can, apply what you think works best (they aren't all suited for every type of climate) and realize that in a few years your decals are probably going to be cracked and faded no matter what you do. It happens faster in some areas than in others, but it happens everywhere without regard to what we do to try to stop it.

[Festus2]

Originally Posted by ocho

Is this readily available? Have you noticed the decals don't fade or crack?

Aerospace303 seems to be pretty easy to get a hold of - hardware stores, RV supply places and the like.

We don't live in an area where we get a whole lot of sun/UV exposure so it's hard to say whether it's the Aerospace303 that is working to prevent fading and cracking or just the decreased UV exposure.

I agree that covering your RV in an area that is prone to high and/or constant winds may not be such a good idea. Chaffing of the RV is likely to occur and the cover itself is subject to ripping.

I cover mine but "wrap it up" with soft nylon lines --- 3 lines going around the unit from top to bottom and 2 lines front to back. I place pipe wrap on every line where it comes in contact with the RV -- corners, edges, etc. The cover does not seem to "flap about" nearly as much.

Fading and peeling of decals and of the fiberglass walls themselves are especially difficult to prevent in areas of prolonged exposure to the sun.

[chuckster57]

I had an adco cover on my Jayco...WHAT A WASTE OF $$ IMO. The sun made it turn to powder in about 3 years. I wash and wax using a high grade wax every 6 months now. When my buddy moved to Georgia last year he gave me his Ascot that was on his Montana for a total of about 8 months. It started turning to powder after 6 months on my trailer.

Maybe the sun in Central Cali is harsher than other areas but I doubt it.

[jsmith948]

Originally Posted by chuckster57

I had an adco cover on my Jayco...WHAT A WASTE OF $$ IMO. The sun made it turn to powder in about 3 years. I wash and wax using a high grade wax every 6 months now. When my buddy moved to Georgia last year he gave me his Ascot that was on his Montana for a total of about 8 months. It started turning to powder after 6 months on my trailer.

Maybe the sun in Central Cali is harsher than other areas but I doubt it.

Bought an ADCO 'designer series' cover for our 5er. As you posted, the sun in our valley is brutal. Well, the cover lasted about 18 mos before it was sun-rotted, and at the west facing back of our 5er, we noticed a very small (about 1"x 2") spot that looks like delamination. After reading the many posts/opinions on this forum about wind abrasion, delamination due to trapped heat, etc., we stopped covering the 5er. Liberal application of 303 every 3 mos and hope for the best. the plan is to construct some sort of pole style RV cover.