thinking of a vinyl wrap

2

2trackin

New member
Ive done one wrap in the past. Here is my 2011 Subaru Wrx STi Satin lambo orange with black powdercoated wheels.

I love wraps for the simple fact that
1. much cheaper than a paint job
2. can change to a wild color and go to something else or return to original easily
3. protects the paint underneath from rock chips, or in a Jeeps case light trail brush
4. The stuff is just plain cool.

This Corvette is wrapped with a matte blue metallic and Im considering the same color on the JK.

here is the jk.

The nice thing about wrapping a jeep is that there isnt really a whole lot of technical surfaces. most are pretty flat and the amount of material is substantially less than an average car. No bumpers or even a roof to wrap for that matter. And in my case. Im going to leave the grill black like is.
Thoughts?
 
2trackin said:
Ive done one wrap in the past. Here is my 2011 Subaru Wrx STi Satin lambo orange with black powdercoated wheels.

I love wraps for the simple fact that
1. much cheaper than a paint job
2. can change to a wild color and go to something else or return to original easily
3. protects the paint underneath from rock chips, or in a Jeeps case light trail brush
4. The stuff is just plain cool.

This Corvette is wrapped with a matte blue metallic and Im considering the same color on the JK.

here is the jk.

The nice thing about wrapping a jeep is that there isnt really a whole lot of technical surfaces. most are pretty flat and the amount of material is substantially less than an average car. No bumpers or even a roof to wrap for that matter. And in my case. Im going to leave the grill black like is.
Thoughts?
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I like the idea! Thinking about wrapping the Audi just to keep the paint fresh... if you do it, let me know how it works out. Where would you get it done? How much for the JK. Nice looking bike - Triumph Speed Triple?
 
I do the work myself. material cost is around $350. Always use quality material. Only 3m, Avery or Oracle. Avery being my favorite to use on vehicles. And yup thats my 2009 Speed Triple. The most fun bike I have ever ridden. The car subie is insanely fun to. sitting there just over 400whp.
Armydog said:
I like the idea! Thinking about wrapping the Audi just to keep the paint fresh... if you do it, let me know how it works out. Where would you get it done? How much for the JK. Nice looking bike - Triumph Speed Triple?
Click to expand...
 
Do it! Then do mine! :beer:

$350 is cheap if you can do the work yourself. I don't want to think about what mine would look like if I tried to do it myself. I'd probably cover part of the windshield by accident. :D
 
It's going to take probably 30+ hours of labor to do it. We will see how it turns out. I may offer a good deal to other jeepers to have it done. For those that don't want to change color but still want the protection, they do make clear wrap. I seen it on the entire front end of a porsche last summer. It was nice on my Subaru because you can bomb down some dirt roads like a rally driver and not event think about hurting the paint.
suicideking said:
Do it! Then do mine! :beer:

$350 is cheap if you can do the work yourself. I don't want to think about what mine would look like if I tried to do it myself. I'd probably cover part of the windshield by accident. :D
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2trackin said:
It's going to take probably 30+ hours of labor to do it. We will see how it turns out. I may offer a good deal to other jeepers to have it done. For those that don't want to change color but still want the protection, they do make clear wrap. I seen it on the entire front end of a porsche last summer. It was nice on my Subaru because you can bomb down some dirt roads like a rally driver and not event think about hurting the paint.




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So you could do a clear wrap in say a dull finish? That interests me
 
I have done my 2013 in clear wrap. Our trails up here are so tight with bushes and I couldn't bring myself to destroy a brand new jeep. The material cost $600.00. But in my opinion was worth every penny. Some guys up here roll their eyes but we'll see what Their opinion is in a three or four years. The job was really easy. I did one panel a day. The vinyl I used isn't the same as the regular wrap used on cars. It's thicker and isn't porous which ment the application was a little different. I had to use a soap water solution and squeegee. Once on you really can't tell its on. If you look really closely you can see where I cut around the door handles. I planned on stripping all the door handles etc. but once I got into it I realized how much work that was going to be.

After all was said and done it turned out really well. I have no hesitation turning down a trail that is overgrown with bushes. The vinyl is also way tougher than the paint and doesn't get scratched up like the paint.

I looked at a lot of different ways, like plastic cote. But that would look cheap and I thought my truck would feel like a big eraser. I think vinyl is the way to go.


Cheers
Grant
 
How do the wraps hold up to thick nasty mud? Does it wash off pretty easy and does it stain the wrap at all? We've got some nasty mud here in Florida.
 
I've also been looking in to this since my buddy has his own business doing it. Still just curious on how well it would hold up with mud, salt, rocks, weather, etc.
 
It holds up fine. As long as the edges are tucked away properly and the wrap is applied right. Added heat on all edges helps with adhesion. So as long as nothing is able to get behind it. The vinyl will hold up well. I ran my STi year round with the wrap. Snow, salt, wet dirt roads etc. The best of what Michigan has to offer and never had a problem with it.

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I have had mine on for almost a year now an have had no issues. I have used a pressure washer, gone through a car wash and it still held up. It hasn't discoloured and apart from a couple of scratches it still looks great. I can even wax it. When all cleaned up ( and even when dirty) you can't tell it's there untill you really look or I tell someone where to look.
I do have to say again that the material I used is NOT the same as the stuff the use for advertising and color change.
It is a 3-M product and is about 8 mil. Thick. It isn't porous, this is why you need to apply it with soap water and a squeegee but once you have done one panell the rest go quickly
This is one of my favorite mods. I just never have to worry about going down a trail that might be a little tight. One other benefit is that because it's a little softer than the piant it is way harder the scratch or mark, so even if I do go down a tight trail the other guys always comes out looking worse than I do, a quick dusting and it's like new. Also I don't have to tell people I have it if I don't want to. Some of the guys that drive an old CJ with no paint just doesn't get it.

Cheers
Grant
 
Do it and let us know how you like it. If I did mine, I'd like to do a flat black or flat military green (drab). I saw a flat black JK once and thought it looked pretty bad ass though I think it was actually painted. Anyhow, if I had some extra money to throw around, I'd probably try it. I was questioning how it would hold up on trails. The responses here seem to point out that it's pretty durable.
 
VADER JK said:
I've also been looking in to this since my buddy has his own business doing it. Still just curious on how well it would hold up with mud, salt, rocks, weather, etc.
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To give you an Idea, they do med/ large trailers with vinyl wrap all the time, we have a few that are 10+ years old and around the seams where it doesn't get great adhesion is the only place where it shows any wear. And by seams im talking over rivets and where panels are lap jointed. Its way to time consuming to lay it down perfectly over all these imperfections, and it still holds up well.

To sum up my thoughts, I would not hesitate to do it to a JK or any jeep for that matter. From what I have seen it holds up well to abuse.

If you get the chance; Every big yellow "Lumber Liquidators" trailer you see on the road is a vinyl wrap. If you see one you can check it out up close for yourself
 
2trackin said:
It's going to take probably 30+ hours of labor to do it. We will see how it turns out. I may offer a good deal to other jeepers to have it done. For those that don't want to change color but still want the protection, they do make clear wrap. I seen it on the entire front end of a porsche last summer. It was nice on my Subaru because you can bomb down some dirt roads like a rally driver and not event think about hurting the paint.




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Click to expand...

Exactly my plan for the Audi to keep the road chips off my nose. Where do you get the material? Haven't found a local wrapper that's any good ( not many good rappers IMHO )
 
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