I will apologize now for the length of this post. I am not posting this to open discussion or to start debate on my research but I hope it may help someone else with their graphics or at least give them "food for thought".
We have a 2002 Montana that we bought in July of 2001. Unfortunately we have always had to store it at a storage facility which means it sits in the sun every day. Plus we were always “weekend warriors” as we both worked full-time. Here’s our graphics story:
2004: We noticed that our graphics were just starting to look a little faded. No worries.
2006: Graphics are looking faded, some edges starting to peel and are cracking. Oh-oh. Called a few dealers. Obtained quotes of $800 to over $1000 for a new set, not including installation. Called Keystone. Keystone would not deal with us. Frustrated, we quit our hunt for graphics.
2008: I persisted with so many emails and phone calls to Keystone & Burlington that we were able to buy a whole new set of graphics direct from Burlington for $280.
Our graphics were in such bad shape, and there was so much discussion and so many opinions on the MOC about the Montana graphics that I started researching to find out more about graphics. I’m one of those people who want to know “why” and with the whole world at my fingertips (love the internet!), I will research hours and hours to find the answers and I will hunt down “experts” and make phone calls to them. Here is an updated synopsis of my 2008 research and phone calls to experts who deal with graphics:
Burlington Graphics is about a 29 year old company that specializes in screen, flexographic and high resolution digital printing. They are considered one of the top graphic companies in the USA. They have been the only vendor (and still are as far as I know) for all the graphics for the Montana line.
"Avery” ( the leading name in labels & adhesive paper) supplies Burlington Graphics with the adhesive vinyl graphic paper. In 2008 it was a 2 mil cast paper and one of the best you can get. The thinner the better when it comes to the graphics industry. You don't want a thick edge on graphics. That just allows for water to collect & sit on the edge and that weakens the edging which allows for curling of the graphic. It will then also give the wind something to grab onto. As with anything else, whenever newer & better vinyls and adhesives are produced, Burlington will upgrade to the newer product. That is why some folks who get replacement graphics might notice a change in them.
Graphics have a street life of 5 to 7 years
if they are properly cared for in the beginning.
It doesn’t matter what brand of RV you have. If our RVs live in areas that get hot sun, or prolonged exposure to the sun, are stored outside without a cover, are high-pressured washed or aren’t waxed several times a year, then they will have started to show fading, cracking and peeling much sooner than the expected street life. Same with cold, wind and rain. Any
one of the above conditions will shorten the street life of the graphics. So basically, graphics are doomed and start to deteriorate the same day they are applied. No matter what you expect of your graphics, they can't, and won't last a lifetime. If they do outlast the experts opinions, just consider yourself lucky, but they will deteriorate at some point.
With proper care, we can only prolong the inevitable.
It’s impossible to keep our RVs out of the sun while traveling. But what we can do is try to get shaded campsites, store the RV under shelter or get a cover for it, hand wash and wax it more often. Washing and waxing is critical according to the experts I talked with. We should be doing it every couple of months, at least. Our cars and trucks don’t go too long in between exterior maintenance, neither should our RVs. People who apply graphics to their cars or trucks usually hand wash and wax those vehicles often and their graphics will usually last up to and probably beyond the street life.
If graphics are applied to the rig in temperatures below 55 degrees, then the graphics won't adhere as well, which can cause early peeling. So that makes me wonder about if the graphics are applied at the correct temperature inside the factory and then the unit goes outside too soon and sits? The graphics won't have had enough time to "bond" and will start the curling & peeling process early. It would be interesting to see the build dates of the rigs that have graphics problems before the 5 to 7 year street life of the graphics is up. But then again you have to account for if the RV has been washed & waxed every couple of months, the sun, wind & rain factor and where the RV is stored at. Too much to really figure out.
My 2008 research certainly showed
ME that we, the consumer, have a lot more responsibilities to maintaining those graphics (more than I ever thought) if we want them to last at least to the beginning of the end of their street life.
In 2008 I also researched the locales of MOC member who were at that time mentioning their graphics were having problems: 3/California; 1/Colorado; 2/Georgia; 2/Maryland; 2/Michigan; 1/ Texas; 2/Ontario, Canada.
2011: I recently retired and am the driving force behind getting our old graphics off and the new ones on. I am currently finishing up removing our old graphics and we definitely waited too long to do it.
They are so cracked on one side of the RV that they come off in 1/2" pieces even with the aid of a heat gun and scraper. It’s taken us countless hours to get where we are now in the removal process and we have destroyed our fingernails and burned our fingers in the process. The decals on the other side weren’t as cracked and we were able to take off pieces in anywhere from 6 to 12 feet long. We hope to have the new graphics on by the time we are at Lake Siskiyou during Memorial Day Weekend.
A potential problem that I haven’t even addressed yet with our new graphics is that they also have a “shelf life”. That could mean our new graphics that have been sitting for 3 years in our house could quite possibly be bad. I don’t even want to look at them until I am ready to install them and am keeping my burned fingers crossed until I pull the graphics out of the box.
The moral of our story is, as soon as you notice a problem with your graphics, jump on it and stick with it. "The squeaky wheel gets oiled". Don't get frustrated and drop the issue like we did. Wash and wax your RV as much as possible as each coat of wax helps protect those graphics.