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Old 04-10-2008, 10:14 AM   #1
Wordsmith
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Peeling decals on nose cap

It has been a loooooong time since I dropped in to MOC...noticed over a year when I logged in. My, how time truly flies…

Anyway, I have a few questions that I will ask over the next few days, but wanted to start with this one as it is the “major” one, at least at the moment.

The decals on the nose cap are curling quite heavily. I first noticed this back at Thanksgiving on our last trip and before taking it to the man who does our minor maintenance. Well, minor turned into over three months due to many situations on his end and when I picked up the Montana last month, I noticed that the peeling had worsened considerably. Additionally, the green M in Montana is was also showing signs of fading in spots.

Okay, my question. Can dealers order and replace these decals or are Marsha and I doomed to watch them curl like cheap chips until we have a naked nose cap?

Thanks for any input guys!
 
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Old 04-10-2008, 12:01 PM   #2
OntMont
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Can't answer you, but I have some minor peeling on our '05 that I am watching carefully. I think someone on here did have theirs replaced. Maybe try a search for "decals".
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Old 04-10-2008, 01:08 PM   #3
richfaa
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Your dealer can order decals..however..since yours is a 03 and vendors have changed..maybe not..will not hurt to ask..perhaps a call to Team Montana??For some strange reason our decals on the 06 3400 are not peeling anywhere in spite of many road miles. The nose graphics are wearing due to lots of bug hits and we have stone dings here and there.
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Old 04-10-2008, 01:31 PM   #4
Wiarton William
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My front decal is peeling and I havent had it on the road yet....I called my dealer and advised him...he requested digital photos and sent them off to Keystone.....decals ordered under warranty..dont know about who gets to replace them....
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Old 04-10-2008, 01:54 PM   #5
Jolu
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My 08 2955RL front cap decal peeled/cracked at the edges about 6 months out of the factory. Took it to the dealer and it was replaced under warranty. Don't know if they took photos for Keystone. JB
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Old 04-10-2008, 02:05 PM   #6
mrosser
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Our 3255 decals are peeling on the blue/green colors but not on the burgandy colors, I contacted Keystone and after sending them pictures they sent me replacment decals at no charge. Now I just have to either do the work myself or find someone to do the job for me. I like someone else doing the work better.
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Old 04-10-2008, 03:04 PM   #7
Wordsmith
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One of my concerns is that the Montana IS a 2003, so I suppose that vintage still being in stock could be problematic. If I can at least get them, though I have to put them on myself, that would be better than the way it is going right now, because in the not too distant future the nose cap will be solid white!
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Old 04-10-2008, 04:15 PM   #8
jsrang
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Keystone stepped up and replaced mine during the Rally last Fall in Goshen. They replaced all but 6 pieces, which they didn't have in stock, but which they subsequently sent to me. Keystone provided the decals at no cost to me. We negotiated to split the cost of installation which was only $150 on my part. I will have the 6 pieces installed this summer when we stop for some maintenance at the dealership in Michigan. It was quite time consuming to complete the job as it took most of an 8 hour day.

The new decals look great! My old ones looked pretty bad and the Keystone Rep agreed. But since it is not a warranty issue, they didn't have to replace them. Thank you again Keystone for stepping up as it is good advertisement fot the company.
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Old 04-10-2008, 05:33 PM   #9
exav8tr
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For those of you looking for an option, there is a company called RV Stripes and Graphics INc. They say that the shelf life for decals is about two years and anyone buying decals older than two years from a dealer should beware. They will produce new decals if you send them pictures of what you want. They will also make decals for your TV if you send them picture of 5er and TV. Caution: They are not cheap, BUT, may well be worth it for some. Of course, saying the decals only have a shelf life of 2 years may be there way to get your business. I will possibly work with them for decals for my new truck, which is white. There website is www.dontdriveugly.com. This is for information only and I do not have anything to do with them nor can I recommend at this point. In other words, just an alternative suggestion..........
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Old 04-10-2008, 05:56 PM   #10
Imp
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We have an 04 and the nose decals are peeling. The side ones have a lot of shrinking and wrinkling. We may be going all white too or maybe could find some fun decals to replace what we have.
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Old 04-10-2008, 07:36 PM   #11
D and M On The Road
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We just sent off another email to Burlington Graphics asking for the price on a whole new set of graphics for our 2002 3295rk. We know that they don't have the 2002 graphics anymore. We will buy the newest they have for our model.

Our only problem is getting them to respond. We are going to start calling them tomorrow.

(Burlington Graphics are the company making the decals now days aren't they? Phone: 262-554-8808)

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Old 04-11-2008, 01:05 AM   #12
Wiarton William
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I think Keystone would Jump on this really quickly.. I think that a trailer that has the decals or graphics in a poor state of repair loses so much appeal to a buyer... even if the unit is pristine the graphics will make it look bad......if they are poor looking the dealers wont be able to get rid of them on resale, therefore the trade in amount will be less and the new buyers wont be there to keep up the stats...
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Old 04-11-2008, 03:09 AM   #13
dsprik
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I called Keystone last week on my vacuum breaker replacement and I happened to mention my front decal "Montana" was peeling and shrinking rather noticeably. They immediately said they would send me a new one - no charge. This surprised me as I was not planning on asking for a new one - just wanted them to know.

The strange thing is that while the "Montana" decal is very noticeable, the "scenic" graphics - on the nose and everywhere else on the unit - looks just like the day I got it our of the factory. Different material obviously. Different vendor?

Our 3400RL is a 2007 - built 7/20/06.
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Old 04-11-2008, 04:38 AM   #14
eeoski
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I would imagine the reason Keystone is quick to jump on the decal replacement is that it is FREE advertising for them...we are all rolling billboards for the company and their product. REAL cheap investment for them for the likely return. As has been alluded to already, if it looks good, it sells better! (This isn't a "ping" against Keystone, I like the fact they are amiable to providing/installing new graphics when the others fail/wear out. It is just one of the realities of business...more exposure to the public, usually results in more sales.)

Now, if they could just create non-mildewing plastic exterior trim! LOL

Robin
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Old 04-11-2008, 09:42 AM   #15
D and M On The Road
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Hmmm... maybe I should contact Keystone again about our decals. When we contacted them about 5 years ago about our 2002 3295rk, they wouldn't give us any decals nor let us buy from them, they told us to go through our dealer. When we contacted the local dealer, they wouldn't order for us and told us to contact Keystone. We sort of gave up at that point.

Now our decals are really disgusting and our hunt is back on. We would like to get our decals replaced before the Lake Siskiyou rally.

I emailed Burlington Graphics earlier in the week and again last night and then decided to call them earlier today.

They make it a rule not to sell to individuals, only large quantity to other businesses. I told them lots of folks at the MOC have trouble with their graphics and I would let the MOC forum know so others don't waste their time trying to get decals out of them.

Now Burlington Graphics wants to have "Don" give me a call back about this.

I'll let you know what we find out.
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Old 04-11-2008, 10:48 AM   #16
Wiarton William
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Just got a call from the dealer that the decals are in and they will be shipped to me next week.......Fast service...they must really care.
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Old 04-11-2008, 12:41 PM   #17
D and M On The Road
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UPDATE: Burlington Graphics called back.

They are checking with Keystone to see if Keystone has a problem with them selling direct to the consumer. Burlington Graphics would prefer not to get into selling to the consumer, it would create a whole new can of worms for them... but they want to communicate with Keystone on this. They also want me to send them pictures of our graphics so they can see how the graphics from 2002 have weathered.

If they end up not selling to us, it will be nice to know so that we can have something put with their listing on the "links" page so other MOCers don't go thru all of this.

They will get back to me on Monday.


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Old 04-12-2008, 05:11 PM   #18
dieselguy
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D&M on the Road: Just a warning as I've replaced a good number of decals on fivers and TT's. There will be a noticeable "ghost" image behind the decal when removed that is considerably lighter than the rest of the side of your unit. The older the unit, the more contrast. It doesn't seem to buff out easily. Alternate designs of decals will cover some, but not all of the whiter areas. I will admit one can live with the "ghost" graphics better than the shrink and curl.
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Old 04-14-2008, 02:12 PM   #19
Wordsmith
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Doug, Have you heard anything else from Burlington Graphics?
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Old 04-14-2008, 04:18 PM   #20
D and M On The Road
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Over the weekend I took pictures of my graphics and emailed them to Don Jacob at Burlington Graphics. I talked with Don Jacob on Friday and he was going to get back to me today, which he did. Bottom line is Burlington Graphics will not sell to the consumer, only quantity orders to businesses. They don’t want to undercut Keystone by selling direct to the consumer.

An interesting fact: The graphics have a life of 5 to 7 years. Waxing them can help prolong their life some by allowing water/moisture to run off and not collect on the thin border and penetrate the graphic edge over time.

I was referred to Dory Rogers at Keystone by Don Jacobs at Burlington Graphics. Dory was not available and I left a message about what I was after.

I received a call back about 45 minutes later from “Denise” who identified herself as the Head of Customer Service at Keystone. She said Keystone does not sell direct to the consumer. When asked about all the folks on the MOC that are getting new graphics direct from Keystone she said those are cases where the Montana is still covered under warranty or just out of warranty. She said people like us who are out of warranty have to order graphics through a dealer like any other part we might want.

Denise said if we didn’t have a local dealer who could or would help us obtain the graphics, then to try “MasterTech RV Service” a company located in Elkhart, IN. (www.mastertechrvservices.com). They supposedly are a good company to deal with.

She also went on to explain that each decal on the Montana has an individual part number and MasterTech would send us a copy of the entire set and we would need to check which ones we would want to buy. If anyone wants to try and deal with MasterTech, you’ll need to give them the VIN of your Montana. I called Master Tech and they were already closed for the day.

We aren’t done yet in trying to get new graphics and will keep you updated.

There’s also another MOC original owner of a 2002 3295RK with the same situation as us who is watching to see if we are able to obtain graphics. We both might end up with taking the original graphics off and just having white 5th wheels. Anything would be better than what it looks like now.

Should it be this hard to get graphics?


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