Decal Replacement

[bob n pam]

Kudos to Keystone Customer Service for sending us replacement decals for the Big Sky. It took a few phone calls and emails back and forth, but in the end Keystone came through just fine. Now to find somebody to take the old ones off and put the new ones on.

[1retired06]

Did they provide at no-cost? If so, double applause for them.

[c214dick]

See my post on the other thread. Keystone customer service is sending me replacement decals at no cost. Installation is on me. The nice part is that the replacement decals seem to be in small enough sections that I will try to install them myself with the exception of the front cap.

[bob n pam]

1retired06, as c21dick said, Keystone supplied the replacement decals at no cost, installation is on us.

[PA5er]

Congratulations. I didn't have such luck. They turned me down cold. Even with pics and a note that the ratty decals wouldn't do anything for the brand.

[c214dick]

We just arrived home after being gone for about 10 days and my replacement decals were waiting for me. PA5er, perhaps your unit was too old for a free replacement. I see that it an 07 and mine & bob's were 08.

[navybanker]

Montana sent us the "mountain" decal "free" for the front cap and finally dealer agreed to replace free next time the rig is in for some other work. One year was up in January of 2012. This is the second decal peeling on a 2011! First, on the office slide and were replaced at no cost by Montana as it was within the one year warranty. Wonder if the decal problem hasn't been solved by Montana. We still like the Montana and dealer so hopefully won't have other problems. Never had this problem on the 2007 Cardinal.

[bullroc3]

Bob - We just had the majority of our graphics replaced. We kept the solid colors as they were in GREAT shape. It was the multicolored ones that gave out. Judy and I removed them ourselves during the unusually warm stretch we had here in PA in March. It took us the better part of 4 days to do it. I had a friend who owns a body shop and graphics business put the new ones on as he works with graphics every day. I did not want to attempt it as they are probably the last set of 2004 graphics on the planet!!! He had to buff the area where the old ones were as they left the WHITE GHOSTS and he could not guarantee the exact replacement of the new ones. It spent 5 days in his shop and he gave me one REALLY FANTASTIC price for all the work and it still was expensive.

[c214dick]

I separated the larger pieces of decals from the smaller ones. I figure I can do one small decal at a time w/o screwing up too bad. If I feel unsure about the larger ones I have already talked to our local body shop about replacing them for me but the shop rate is still kind of scary.

[Aviator]

Howdy everyone. Here's a great suggestion I got from Bill Little, parts Guru at RV America, Johnstown, CO. Simply use a steam machine ($30-40 at Walmart, Kmart, Target, etc.), or borrow from someone you know that has one. It takes 2 people - one to apply the live steam to the decal, and one to gently pull the loosened decal from the painted surface. BE VERY CAREFUL NOT TO SCALD THE PULLING PERSON WITH THE LIVE STEAM - IT'S EASY TO DO!! A little patience when pulling the decal will avoid tearing it so you don't have to find another edge to start again. We removed all the right and left side decals from a 31' "Safari" Class C motor home in less than 2 hours. No scraping, no residual adhesive, no scratch marks, no bad marks of any kind - just a perfectly clean, smooth painted surface left to put your new decals on!!! Try it - I think you'll like it!

[c214dick]

I wonder if my steam wallpaper remover would work as well?

[bob n pam]

Aviator, interesting suggestion. We did just that when we removed the wallpaper strip in our other Montana. We had to follow up with Goo Gone, but it made the job easier.

[c214dick]

It took awhile but all of my replacement decals have arrived from Keystone. Hats off to Michelle and everyone else who helped. Now the fun starts, after we get back from California.

[c214dick]

I have just finished replacing most of the street side decals. Today I removed the decals from the front cap and am working on removing the adhesive before installing the new decals. I may leave the Montana off and only put the mountains on. I'm looking at getting a custom decal of a border collie chasing a frisbee to be placed over the mountains. Either way the Montana will stay off the front. Price decals free, about $20 for supplies, hours of labor but what else have I got to do. At least this way if the new decals start peeling I have only myself to blame.

[c214dick]

Finished cleaning the front cap. It was so much work I may decide to leave it blank. I don't ever want to go through that again.

[RJI47]

We have a 2009 and Keystone provided new front cap decals near the end of 2010. We got the unit in 2008. The dealer did the labor, and they are still in great shape. I have noticed recently that the bedroom slide decal is coming off, but I just figured Keystone would say NO because of the age. I'm surprised that they sent out free decals for 2008's. Maybe I should give them a call.

[c214dick]

Ask for Michelle Diaz

[thekennys]

I'm about to get into decal mess and i found info here helpful
http://www.rvsg.com/restripe-removal.asp
if i can't get keystone to help these guys will make what i want
mikey

[c214dick]

I've looked at that site b4, lots of good info. We just dropped off Monte for the body work and the owner has a Cedar Creek 5th wheel, w/o front decals. They were peeling so he removed them and buffed out the cap so it looks great. We talked about how difficult it was for me to remove the front decals and it turns out he lowered the front end all the way, raised the rear end and reduced the need for standing on a ladder. Where was he when I was doing that!!!!!!

[Steve and Susie]

Seems a lot of people have trouble with the decals. I am in the process of taking the ones off of our 2008 Montana. Having a sign shop for almost 40 years I am doing the work myself. One little bit of information---Ive seen some pretty bad looking units from people using a double edged razor blade to remove decals. If you were to look at the blade in a microscope you would see there is a beveled edge on each side. Determine the side to be against the unit when using the blade, and scratch it, at about 45 degrees angle, on a stainless steel flat surface, and this will remove the bevel on the bottom side, eliminating the gouges and scratches sometimes found after using a blade. When installing the new decals, make sure all the residue is gone from the unit. Mark the tips in spots where you can see them easily. Use a spray bottle with soap and water in it, and spray the area where the decal goes, to make it slippery. Place the decal on the unit, in the shade, and with the soapy water you can slide it to the correct position quite easily. Once in position start at one top corner and squeegy all the water and soap our from under the decal, making sure to squeegy out the bubbles that sometimes happen. Once it is all squeegied out the decal is in place and finished. One more idea for those who are in extreme heat conditions---get a small amount of the old original "Marine Spar Varnish" and a small artist brush, high liner style, and go around all your decals with a bead of the varnish. this will seal the edges of the decal and eliminate rolling, curling and shrinking. Hope this helps, and is I can help anyone any further feel free to contact me---better yet stop by Alice Springs RV Par and
Resort in Ionia, MI and I will help you. Happy Trails.