decals falling off

[foneguy]

Ok i have a 2018 Sportsman fifth wheel 344bh,  on the front is a big SPORTSMAN decal and it is bubbling off.
so 1...has this happened to anyone?
    2  what did you do to fix short of having the front painted?

waiting on a second reply from KZ    their first was thats out of warranty,  even the extended warrenty will not cover. This will
look like a POS when they tear and peel off.  Thanks

oh this has never happened on any other coach we have owned  not  one in nearly 30 yrs of rving.
Scott

 

[Goodspike]

Maybe someone can give you tips on removing.  Years ago I had a side of my truck messed up and rather than insurance paying for the new decal I had the other side removed by the body shop.  It looked better without!  Hopefully it wouldn't take a professional to do that, and as an added bonus you'd no longer be advertising for the manufacturer.

 

[Boat Addict]

At the very worse, since the areas look small right now, I would try one small piece with some super glue and see what happens. Just check the back area on the camper and see if its clean before applying some dabs of glue. Then just push it in and hold it a bit. I would probably use a small piece of wood to push on the  pieces sideways, which keeps your fingers away from possibly getting some on the skin. Sure its a pain. But you could also just order new decails and get a local sign company to install them, since they are used to this type of job working with large decals and wraps. Getting any manufacturer to do anything under warranty will drive you bat crazy now days.

One more thing to use is a yellow squeeze or similar plastic body shop plastic tools. Push up and away in hopes to minimize any wrinkles.

 

[Isaac-1]

Let me start by saying I owned a vinyl sign and screen printing shop back in the 1990's, so have a fair amount of experience working with vinyl graphics.

First my take is that you are dealing with premature failure of the vinyl graphics, which could have been caused by applying to a substrate too soon that had not finished off gassing, or possibly due to reaction with some sort of cleaner.  Second it is only going to get worse, the cheap vinyl that RV manufacturers tend to use only has a 5-7 year design life expectancy.  Better to remove it now before there is too much ghosting from fading around the graphics, light ghosting will probably buff out.  You can then either have new custom graphics made from vinyl, if you do specify longer life Cast vinyl, not the cheap Calendered vinyl that most RV's come with, or have it painted on.  Under no circumstances would I suggest trying to glue what you have now back down.

p.s. looking at the photos more, my bet is on some sort of cleaning chemical, either that or perhaps whoever installed the graphics used WAY too much or incorrect application fluid.

 

[steveblonde]

I somewhat agree with Isaac cheap products dont last and the vinyl they use on RVs is the cheapest of the cheap, as for the application thats speculation. I too was in the graphics business for years. Did all of the Coke trucks for Western Usa and Hawaii at one point. I also agree DONT glue it. Peel it off and get a good sign company to print another one easy done. 3m makes some great UV resistant laminate or laminate the entire front end as 3m now makes a laminate specifically for RV front ends . My next unit i will laminate the side with uv resistant film to stop the fading and peeling and use the paint protection road guard on the front.

 

[Boat Addict]

It sounded like he wanted to try a short term fix, hince the reason I suggested one small piece to see what happens.  A good heat gun should loosen up the original one if you want it all off and some areas remain stuck. But anyway its possible that there is some copyright issues for an independent sign outlet to print a new one, if they could even get the correct factory decal format. I have dealt with boat wraps that cost thousands and fads in the first couple of months.  There is also no warranty on those either other than maybe a good will free labor to redo it.


After dealing with a brand new unit with a full warranty from Winnebago, I can tell you that other than just the principle of it, for the small stuff I will never be plagued again with talking to an rv dealer or any rv factories after going thru hell in an attempt to get something fixed. They ALL SUCK. Paying for new parts, especially if its parts like trinkets such as the decal is just the cost of the joys of owning crumbling rvs. And its peanuts compared to boats and boat parts.  And quality wax deals with fiberglass rv sides once a year. People wax their vehicles, as a rule and so why not do the same to their rvs. Hire it out is the best for the old folks, cheap by tens of hundreds..

 

[Goodspike]

It sounded like he wanted to try a short term fix, hince the reason I suggested one small piece to see what happens.  A good heat gun should loosen up the original one if you want it all off and some areas remain stuck. But anyway its possible that there is some copyright issues for an independent sign outlet to print a new one, if they could even get the correct factory decal format.

I don't get why there's discussion of recreating the advertising for a company that won't fix their product.  I'd remove it and then any time someone asked what make/model my trailer was I would badmouth the company.

After dealing with a brand new unit with a full warranty from Winnebago, I can tell you that other than just the principle of it, for the small stuff I will never be plagued again with talking to an rv dealer or any rv factories after going thru hell in an attempt to get something fixed.

I have a small item (interior wood trim piece) that is waiting for parts to arrive.  When it does though I'm considering asking what it would cost just to buy the part so I don't have to drag the trailer in.

 

[Bobtop46]

I used these 2 items to remove the decals off the front of my Class A hood.  It was a PITA to keep clean and the bugs off.  The hood was unpainted white fiberglass with decal.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MSFD50H/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HZ4ABKS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I used the wheel first to remove as much of the decal as possible then used the spray to clean the area of residue.  I then removed the hood and had it painted a darker color to match the rest of the RV.  The painted finished hood is much easier to keep clean then the unfinished (wax only) version was.

 

[old_toys]

had a employee at the local rv dealer tell me that a good pressure washer will tear the decals off quick.

 

[gwinger]

The decals on the front of my KZ 270thle are doing the same thing. Since mine is over 2 years old, KZ will not fix the problem. I agree that the prep is the problem.
I also did decal work where I worked and found out that every thing must be clean, clean, before I installed new decals.
It is a a pain to remove the decals, and you will end up with ghost images.

 

[foneguy]

update:  after emailing kz i received the replacement decals for the front of my coach! ill be replacing all this spring

 

[foneguy]

The decals on the front of my KZ 270thle are doing the same thing. Since mine is over 2 years old, KZ will not fix the problem. I agree that the prep is the problem.
I also did decal work where I worked and found out that every thing must be clean, clean, before I installed new decals.
It is a a pain to remove the decals, and you will end up with ghost images.

email them, use facebook, and messenger.....i argued that no other coach ever did this, and only two years old....then i won and received them in the mail...give it a try

 

[Isaac-1]

A couple of words of advice here, pick a day that is reasonably warm, something over 70 degrees, also consider getting a small spray bottle of application fluid (there are also home made versions, but the real stuff is better), use it sparingly, don't soak it down, just lightly mist it.  A 4 ounce spray bottle of Rapid Tac can be bought on Amazon for about $9 https://www.amazon.com/RAPID-Application-Decals-Stickers-Sprayer/dp/B006RMC8J6/ which should be more than plenty for this job.  Also a GOOD vinyl application squeegee helps, the cheap plastic works ok, but you can get better results with a better tool, my personal pick is the 3M Gold squeege https://www.amazon.com/Gold-Appl-Squeegee-5-Bg/dp/B0038D7RL6 but the cheap (freebee) plastic ones will work too, the fact they wear out quicker will not be an issue here.

 

[K.Nelson]

This is caused by snow melting and sliding off the front. I just had my TT in for warranty repairs and the dealer attempted to get this covered by Keystone. My unit is a 2019 and Keystone denied the claim stating this is cause by snow sliding off and it’s something they will not cover.

 

[whiteva]

It seams all manufactures use decals that are prone to fail, usually by curling at the edges and fading. Over the last 20 years I have watched this happen with absolutely no solution from the builders. Finally finding our perfect camper (for us) it also had a poor quality front decal causing me to contact a friend in the sign business for a fix. His suggestion was custom art work printed on quality 3-M material. To quote him "find or design a high quality photo and I will print it for you."

The first decal we had made lasted 6 years with no fading or curling until hurricane Michael managed to put 3 holes in the front cap. I removed the great photo, repaired the damaged fiberglass and had a different one made. Instillation was easy however make sure to prep the area well. Acetone was recommended to clean off all the wax.

Since the rear cap decal had faded badly by then, I also had a beautiful oval Eagle in flight made and installed. Often folks stop by to ask how we changed the look of our castle.