Recently purchased a 24' enclosed trailer used and unfortunately have the ever wonderful job of removing decals and striping from sides and back of trailer, besides a heat gun, plastic razor blades and finger nails are there any suggestions, hints or tips anyone has for making this process any easier or less tedious? tried an eraser device for drills luckily in inconspicuous place and that is definitely not the answer. Also removing the adhesive, have used goof off in past and in my opinion doesn't do much, I seen this weekend a 3M product, heavy duty adhesive remover, has anyone used this product or recommend anything better. Wish I was doing this in warmer weather but unfortunately not and shop not deep enough to get trailer in to so will be doing this outdoors. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank You
removing decals from trailer
- Thread starter euphoric1
- Start date
fusionrider
Member
WD 40 works well to remove adhesive
toddspolaris
Member
we purchased a 20 ft enclosed trailer and had to remove lettering off the sides and back, very very difficult to do, black aluminum sides scratch to easily, heat gun and all, we used gas and lots of rags to remove the glue residue, always could tell where the lettering was and what it said, 4 years later we decided to add another layer of black aluminum trailer sheeting to the sides and back with new stainless screw, Now we have a very nice trailer, Good Luck yikes
That is what I was afraid of, luckily trailer white so scratches may not be as readily seen but could understand that that too could be and issue, don't know if it will be this year but will eventually be putting our company logo on it even though it is primarily a toy hauler, hopefully that will help hide the difference in tones on trailer from where the old decals were. is there one heat gun better than another? going to be using it for a while so don't want one that will burn out from prolonged use
Have not heard that, enough reason not to I guess though, truck I use to haul it has them on it so maybe I wont, curious to see if any replies regarding this, don't want to be a rolling target for inspections, even though everything kosher
Be careful with the 3m spray on sticker remover it is strong stuff and combined with rubbing will take paint off. I found the best sticker and adhesive remover for me is rubbing acohol, heat and elbow grease. I threw out the 3m can I didn’t want a bud to try it and get into trouble.
Thanks whitedust, i'm glad I didn't figure that out on my own, wont even try it then
Willh, are you saying to spray on decal? or adhesive that's left after removal
mezz
Well-known member
I Will, no pun intended, respond, WD40 on the glue residue, not the decal itself. Use a hair dryer or use heat gun gingerly to free the decal, pull off what you can. Then apply the WD40 liberally to the glue residue, let it set soaking for a while & wipe away with a cotton/polyester cloth (old t-shirt) with some wd on it, it will come off without wrecking the finish behind it.-Mezz
In fact it's just the opposite. They like logos on trailers, box trucks, and vans. They are worried you just bought it to park it with a large bomb inside for terrorist activities. More likely to get pulled over without logos on sides.
I have about 18' of decals on both sides and the rear door to do, sounds like not going to be fun or easy. hair drier, industrial size can of WD 40, pack of plastic razor blades and a case of Lakefront Riverwest aught to get er done. I thsnk everyone for the input, bad thing is.... i'll just be putting decals right back on, however it will be someone elses problem some time down the road. Thank you everyone!
slimcake, yes thought about it but our logo completely different in color and the way they would over lay it would still have to remove some of the decals because going to use the white of the trailer as background, not to mention the swash of striping that runs 18' of the trailer near the bottom that for me is wrong color. So yes... considered it but either way a lot of work, would have to pay for a lot of white vinyl and it may be a horse a piece but just going to do it the right way, now just have to find a warm shop to do it in.
T
Tracker
Guest
there is a plastic scraper used to lay a good bead of caulk at paint store with radii on edges and smooth edges all around....I use one of those and some WD-40...I spray then use scrapper to left sticker a tad....then spray as I use my fingers or that scrapper to keep pulling gently off.....spray all the while....spray and peel.....trying to keep sticker whole as I pull...then to get sticky glue off afterwards I wipe off spray and use duct tape as a blotter to get sticky glue to come off with duct tape....comes off easy this way IMO
