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Considering vinyl wrapping. Colors?

25K views 56 replies 25 participants last post by  echeatham 
#1 ·
Just bought a 2008 black diamond FJ and considering vinyl wrapping for paint protection and in addition i always wanted the cement grey or cavarly blue which came on the later models. What do you think? Should i go with a factory color or do something completely different?
 
#13 · (Edited)
I would say do a color that isn't factory to be more unique!
 

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#16 ·
I wrapped mine white about 4 years go. Didn't bother with the roof. Left it on a little too long so it began to get really stained.

Took it off this weekend, peeling away years of pinstripes and contamination. I had done a full paint correction prior and would recommend the same to anyone considering this.
 
#19 ·
Whoa! Two pages long already! Lots of good (and funny) suggestions here.

I am considering this mainly because i think the all black version kindof washes out some of the nice details on the FJ, but i ended up with one anyway, for other reasons.

Not going all crazy on color. Of the factory colors, as mentioned, cement grey and cavarly blue as my favs.

Got this from my vinyl place:

https://graphics.averydennison.eu/c...supreme_wrapping_film_product_overview_en.pdf
 
#25 ·
Are you paying a professional, or doing it yourself? I DIY'd like I do pretty much everything I do, and the FJ is a tough cookie to wrap properly, at least the white section up on the roof and more critically, the back door sections. You'll see it when you get there.

Anyway, this is mine:






Avery SW900 Satin Black, in this case.
 
#31 ·
Yeah there's money in wrapping, for sure. You can always try to do it yourself, you may end up being very good, or very bad at it. The secrets for me have been to use knifeless tape, high-grade squeegees, and an NT Cutter 30 degree cartridge knife. If I take on any more jobs, I'll pick up some vinyl wrapping gloves to aid in heatgun work.

With that Flex, I had to give up on the front and rear bumpers, as I was consuming too much material in failed attempts. Eventually a pro did those two pieces.

At a place like Fellers.com, the material itself (for Avery SW900) is not too bad. I ended up ordering a short amount of material so when I went to wrap the sides of my roof, I was short about 2 foot. That meant I had to buy another big sheet all over again, so my material consumption was pretty high. Still, only ended up being ~$325 for all I bought, with two orders-worth. A whole truck would be considerably more, but still probably under $1000 all-in. The interesting thing about vehicle wrapping is that installation materials/tools are very inexpensive, even if you splurge on lots of extras to try and assist the job, like magnets. I just wrap strong disk magnets in Tesa tape and use those, which saves me.

It isn't easy and it sometimes isn't fun. I'd rather be fabricating an amp rack or a display panel than wrapping a panel, but in the end the results speak for themselves. Just make a rule to not cut your paint and that way if you end up disliking your own work, at least you only cost yourself material and time, and not the anguish of knowing you cut your paint.
 
#32 ·
Yeah there's money in wrapping, for sure. .
no doubt

on netflix there is some show called fastest car

A guy who wraps for rappers (no doubt over charging them), has about $3M worth of cars that he acquired himself, just from profits from his wrapping business. He lived in a trailer park and has a 3rd grade education. He himself talks about how much money he makes wrapping
 
#37 ·
I am pretty familiar with this subject as I wrapped my black diamond several months ago. I did a thread on the project. Also including a few pics. To do this wrap correctly is not only time intensive but can also takes a lot of energy and $$. I have a bit of an advantage...my son owns a wrap shop so I was able to get a lil discount on install, along with making sure the wrap was done correctly in all aspects. Keep in mind a successful wrap is dependent upon the quality of prep.
We removed ANYTHING & EVERYTHING that was attached to the body...fender flares, handles, mirrors, molding, bumpers, badges, etc. Anything that didn't get wrapped was removed, including all glass & weatherstripping. You can wrap around/over molding, lights, etc., however to get the best installation possible removing and wrapping around body edges instead of cutting in is preferred. The body had a few ding's that had to be filled, otherwise it was a matter of using a de-greaser and vinyl prep cleaner before wrap. ALL imperfections should be taken care of before wrap. Small paint chips will be visible after vinyl install. For the vinyl we used 3M 1080 cast, solid color satin white and satin black, along with OEM Toyota TRD red. The red and black graphics along the side are put on AFTER the solid color, not printed. You have much more control of location doing it this way. Not only did we wrap all panels we decided to raptor line roof, side mirrors and hood insert, grill housing along with a few other pieces, including subwoofer box, etc. After 18 months the DIY raptor liner is holding up perfectly and has not chipped or faded. Once again, it was all about the prep. The pieces were de-greased, sanded as per raptor liner instructions, cleaned with denatured alcohol, then shot with adhesion promoter before the liner was applied. When it was time for re-assembly we opted to replace most of the molding along with new door handles, windshield, etc. We also installed new grill insert and added some red accent HID lights, etc. The original roof rack was a bit weathered but after treating it with "BIKE BRITE MOTO BLACK", it came back to life. The bumpers and rear jerry can/rack assembly was re-powder coated along with the wheels.
As you can see by pics the result was a stunning, aggressive look for an otherwise tired FJ.
The overall investment in the FJ was approx. $2,800, not including many, many hours of disassembly/reassembly. I would not recommend cutting corners. Also make sure your wrap shop uses a QUALITY vinyl and laminate if the vinyl has printed graphics. Vinyl is obviously not as durable as paint, however it can be repaired easier. It does take a bit more care than paint, especially if using a flat or satin vinyl. I use 3M red car wash soap. I am also a bit adverse to the additional vinyl protectants, sealants on the market. After using one product it left streaks and high/low spots on the satin black hood. Fortunately I was able to remove it by washing it off a couple of times but with flat and/or satin vinyl adding sealants can cause inconsistencies. Better to keep it covered or garaged and clean regularly.
If you have any questions on specific issues on the wrap I would be more than happy to try and answer.
 

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#38 ·
I wrapped my roof & hood (both black to match my truck) 2yrs ago with the best 3m available.. the issue is even with the best upkeep the wind burn has began to wear thru the vinyl wrap along the top front edge of the windshield as well as the sides all the way down the roof... as my shop sells an installs wraps I'd normally support them. But I'll be painting my truck very soon.. as the wrap just doesn't seem to hold up to my high mileage driving.... fyi I've replaced the hood once already so it's a fail all the way around...
 
#39 ·
Vinyl won't last forever, quite true. I wonder if you can lay some protection film over the high-wear spots to increase durability, same as paint. It might work.

3M isn't a shining example of durability. I know when I tried to use 3M on a project a few years ago, I had to ditch and start over with Avery to avoid going mad. It kept "hardening" as I was working it. It would become brittle and chip at the edges, just laying it in. And I was just doing interior pieces with brushed metal vinyl, 1080 series. Avery has been better for me, so far. I might try Vvivid at some point, too. I'm definitely not quitting my day job to wrap for a living.
 
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