How would you wrap this trailer?

[Hamiltog]

Hi all, long time listener/first time caller.
I searched and searched but did not find so if this is already covered please forgive and redirect me....
The client wants to wrap this trailer with some BIG screws all over it. Can it even be done?! Should I just tell him we need to do some panels between the screws? It seems like rivets are pretty doable but these are a whole different thing. Any advice is appreciated, thanks very much. I'm sorry that these pictures don't show the detail as well as I thought, but they are basically like a 1/4" bolt head...NOT round edges like a rivet.

 

[papabud]

depends on your design, i would pull out the screws as you go and then put them back in. work from that big support bar at the top down then do the top.
if you can not pull the screws you can go over them and with a little heat and time work your vinyl in and around them. screws take a lot of time. i helped a buddy with a trailer over the weekend. we was able to pull the screws on one side but not the other. the side we removed the screws from went on in half the time and a lot cleaner. the side with the screws took longer and didnt look nearly as good.

 

[Dennis422]

Use cast film, heat gun and this http://www.rollepro.com/video.php
Do not pull rivets out!

You can see instructional videos on the link above.

 

[J Hill Designs]

Use cast film, heat gun and this http://www.rollepro.com/video.php
Do not pull rivets out!

You can see instructional videos on the link above.

they sound like 1/4" hex heads, not rivets.

 

[Dennis422]

I guess I should read all the way to the end

 

[phototec]

I attended a wrap school with Justin Pate back in 2010 and he taught the same method of leaving a vertical air channel over the rivets (screws) and then heating with a torch or heat gun and starting at the top working your way down with a foam roller, however we used a plain foam paint roller from the hardware store. I do have a Rolle-Pro however you can achieve the same results with any foam roller, just make sure you leave a channel for the air to escape.

 

[Hamiltog]

Thanks for everyone for the replies but I really want to emphasize that these are NOT rivets, they are bolt heads. They have the typical six sided bolt head shape with sharp corners....not like rounded rivet. So would you all still go with the same roller based method? Thanks again, this site has been a huge resource for me.

 

[x2chris7x]

+1 to remove screws!

 

[JoeBoomer]

DO NOT REMOVE THE HARDWARE. Wrap ontop and use the rolle pro. This really shouldn't add that much additional time to the install. Removing the hardware is going to set you up for all kinds of issues & more time, plus depending on the graphic; you don't want the bare hardware to show.


On trailers, I would never remove the hardware. I would remove the light lenses though.

Go Team!

 

[SightLine]

I would avoid removing the screws (or bolts) on the sides of trailers at all costs. I have seen firsthand more than once where this weakens the entire trailer. The problem is they are put together with self tapping screws. When you remove them the hole get enlarged by the drill point of the screws (and then a bit more again when it gets reinstalled) and the screws will never hold as well again as they do the first time. A good example (and they actually still have it) a trailer owned by the state here. This was a very expensive custom 40 foot one but still a typical lightweight grade trailer. We were to wrap it the second time. Whatever shop did it first removed all the screws and put them back in as they went along. This made the removal of the old wrap a nightmare for one but one phenomenon we encountered right away is half the screws basically were falling out and many were missing. On closer inspection I quickly realized there was a big problem. Standing on a scaffold I could push (very hard) against the top corner and the entire trailer would essentially shift and you could physically see the side panels shifting and the overlaps moving. So we stopped and advised the state on the situation. The state took a closer look themselves and their maintenance shop did some deflection and other testing on the trailer and deemed it unsafe and unsuitable for continued use. They then contacted the manufacturer who also agreed and advised that the only fix for this and the only way to make the trailer safe for use again would be to replace every screw with a size larger.....