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Old 12-02-2017, 07:28 AM   #1
artho45
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Replacing decals

Because we bought an older unit (2002) I would like to remove and replace the decals. I have found reasonably priced decals on ebay, but have several questions.
1. How to remove the old decals?
2. How hard is it to put the new ones on?
3. If we don't go back with exactly the same ones, will we always be able to tell where the old ones were?
FYI, we are planning to do a complete cleaning of the entire RV, not sure what cleaning compound to use for this either.
thanks
 
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Old 12-02-2017, 08:16 AM   #2
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I tried removing decals from a 2004 laredo. 3m makes a decal removal tool check utube and they show you how to do it. I finally gave up and just bought a new rig.
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Old 12-02-2017, 08:31 AM   #3
Jsh
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I have been in the sign & vinyl business for 22 years. The removal depends on the amount of uv abuse the decals have suffered over time. If they are cracked and starting to peel, probably going to come off in many small pieces. If the have just faded, may come off fairly easy. Either way a good heat gun, and adhesive remover to get the glue off after the decal. And yes you will see where the old decals have been. Find local sign shop to look over job for you may be the easiest.
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Old 12-02-2017, 10:13 AM   #4
BB_TX
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I replaced the front and rear decals on my 2007 three years ago. The MONTANA names came off fairly easily using a heat gun on low and a plastic scraper. Basically lift an edge and slowly pull while heating and they came off in somewhat large pieces. But the mountains was another matter. They were dry and cracked so bad they only came off in very small pieces. I bought a 3M Eraser Wheel to use in my drill and make the job much easier. But you do need a good corded drill. A battery powered drill would go thru batteries too quickly.

With the eraser wheel, a lot of the adhesive came off with the decal. But a lot was left also. But a can of 3M Adhesive Remover took that off fairly easily. I would hold an old towel below a section of the adhesive, run a bead of remover across and above that adhesive, let it sheet down over the adhesive, and soak into the towel. Then use the soaked towel to wipe off the adhesive. The remove would basically melt the adhesive and it would soak into the towel.

There was a faint outline of the old decals, shiny where they were, dull where they were not. BUT. That made it easy to locate the new decals when applying them. Putting the new ones on was not too difficult. But you do need to be careful as when they stick, they are not easy to lift and rearrange. The "hinge" method (google it) worked well for me.
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Old 12-02-2017, 04:05 PM   #5
richfaa
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We live very near Lake Erie and there are several companies that do Marine decals. Most of the Montana decals except the MONTANA are off the shelf. Check around .
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Old 12-02-2017, 06:52 PM   #6
dieselguy
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I've done decals on a few units ... no matter what you try ... there will be a slight "ghost" where the old decal was unless you replace the with the same decal. Where the old decal was will always be noticeably shinier and a slightly lighter color since the sun didn't contact it directly.
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Old 12-02-2017, 07:05 PM   #7
mtlakejim
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JSH had the best advice on this topic. He is spot on that the older your stickers are and the more UV damage the harder the job to remove them. Likewise the more UV damage your camper has seen the more visible the old stripping ghosts will be.


I attempted to remove the stickers on our camper and gave up. We tried heat guns, sticker remover spray, power washers and the 3m rubber wheel. While nearly all methods did work to some extent, the work was extremely tedious. I probably could have removed all the stickers but would have spent two full days or more doing it and the ghosting was very visible. We ended up trading the old 5th wheel off without finishing the job.....


In short if your camper and stickers are old I don't recommend doing it yourself, your going to be very frustrated. If your camper is newer and you can peel the stickers off all in one piece it might be a worthwhile project.
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Old 12-03-2017, 09:52 PM   #8
h2ojocky
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I watched a professional detail guy on youtube remove decals on front cap, wet sand, and buff. Took him about 8 hours. I replaced mine on the front cap and it is tedious but I thought it was worth it. It is not a job for everybody.
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Old 12-04-2017, 10:54 AM   #9
PSFORD99
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Quote:
Originally Posted by h2ojocky View Post
I watched a professional detail guy on youtube remove decals on front cap, wet sand, and buff. Took him about 8 hours. I replaced mine on the front cap and it is tedious but I thought it was worth it. It is not a job for everybody.

I agree very tedious, and time consuming. I took pictures of mine when they started going bad, and ended up with a complete new set from Keystone. The front was really the only bad ones at the time, but still ended up with the entire set.

I replace just the ones that start to peel. so far a couple on both sides. and the entire front.
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Old 12-04-2017, 06:18 PM   #10
clarkandsheila
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2008 unit and I'm still removing the decals. I use a heat gun, a plastic blade scraper as the razor scraper was digging too often and the 3M Adhesive Remover.
It's a lot of work.
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Old 12-04-2017, 07:19 PM   #11
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If I spent hours cleaning decals off I am not sure I would put new ones on. You are just setting yourself up to do it again down the road.
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Old 12-04-2017, 07:50 PM   #12
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I feel your pain Clark. I gave up after doing one side and still had some of the glue on the unit.


AZ, I am with you too. I was thinking of having my stripes painted on instead of using vinyl about half way thru removing the one side I did do but then just gave up and said the heck with it all. Fortunately we traded ours in and the dealer really didn't care since they were selling us a brand new RV....Neither did we since we got about what we expected to get on an old unit that I am sure was just about ready to start giving us some real issues........
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Old 12-05-2017, 04:40 AM   #13
WaltBennett
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Reflective Vinyl Off - Amazon has it in gallon jugs and it works extremely well. Two folks I know have used it. We're not quite ready to get rid of the old ones, but if Keystone won't give us new ones I'm going to just paint the whole thing with white marine epoxy paint. Rolls on and looks fine - AND reflects heat (just won't be able to find it in a snow storm!).
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Old 12-05-2017, 09:55 AM   #14
richfaa
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Keystone does not carry decals or manufacturer them. They come from the vendor IF they are still made. We did get some via Keystone for our 2008 3400.We have no idea who makes the present decals for the Montana.The 13 big sky has few decals and they seem of better grade.
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Old 12-06-2017, 06:23 PM   #15
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clean really well and apply decals, like most said take the time and apply decals not to hard if you go at it with help
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Old 12-07-2017, 04:53 AM   #16
powerhaulic
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I think i'm going to remove some of mine and have them reproduced in my TV color
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Old 12-17-2017, 09:57 AM   #17
fredsmithtyler
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Hi, Where did you get the replacement decals and about how much did they cost?

Thanks in advance
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Old 12-17-2017, 11:04 AM   #18
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Originally Posted by fredsmithtyler View Post
Hi, Where did you get the replacement decals and about how much did they cost?
Depends on model year. I think they are available from Keystone for newer model years, but not older. Don’t know how many years that is. I got new front and rear decals for my 2007 four years ago from Keystone for free. I had to install them. But a year or two later Keystone was telling people they were not available. Although that seemed to vary depending on who they dealt with as they initially told me that. Those years were notorious for peeling and cracking.

Many are available on eBay. Search for Montana decals. Or google RV decals. There are a lot of sources, but finding exact duplicates may be a problem. Or you could try http://wallartworld.com to stand out from the crowd.

A vinyl decal and wrap shop can duplicate them if yours are still in good enough shape to take a good picture. Or if someone else can provide a good picture of theirs.
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Old 01-10-2019, 06:17 PM   #19
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Hi, new member here ... I have a 2013 Montana High Country 303RK and the front/nose decal faded around 2 years after we got it. Now it really is bad. Is there any wraps out there that are identical that can be used or is there some place to get replacement decals? Thanks!
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Old 01-10-2019, 07:28 PM   #20
rohrmann
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I honestly doubt you will find original decals for you rig. Ours are still good, but my thought on this is, if they ever get bad, off they come and I will get an artist to paint whatever I want on the cap, and it may not even have Montana painted on it.
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