Satin finish on trailer...will this work?

[Stacey K]

Well, I'm an idiot. I ordered the material before seeing it in person because it was getting shelves put in - never thought to ask if it was glossy like 99.9% of other trailers. I just got back from looking at it...it's got a black satin finish. Here's the material I have...
3M 7125 Scotchcal Yellow
Oracal 751 White
Any initial thoughts? This guy said his buddy has the exact same trailer, same finish and it was lettered up with no issues. I told him there's different types of vinyl and I'll check into it. I'm leaving tomorrow at 4am so I might not respond for a couple days. TIA!!

 

[CanuckSigns]

What's the question? If you are worried about the vinyl not sticking, don't worry it will be fine, but the gloss level of the vinyl might not match the trailer.

Usually when you buy aluminum composite sheets, 1 side is gloss, the other side is matte/satin and I've had no issues getting vinyl to stick to either side.

 

[Stacey K]

That was my question - will it stick, and that is exactly the response I was hoping for! Thank you!

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Most ACM I apply to is satin finish and never have a problem

 

[Stacey K]

Just an update...I got this trailer done yesterday. It worked out pretty well. Not a big fan of the logo but I do like the white and yellow on the black. I was hoping to wet apply the yellow panels...that didn't work at all. It didn't stick enough to the matte finish to pull the transfer tape off without pulling the vinyl up. Panel 1 was a real mess thankfully I was able to make it work.

Those wheel wells were a pain. There were a couple spots where I needed to add a little "patch" where there was the start of a tear as it was nearly impossible to get it to fit perfectly and trim it decent. There was rubber behind the wheel well so I kept making small cuts to fit it in then took the squeegee and made a mark then cut it about 1/4" from the squeegee mark, applied then then trimmed it. I'm guessing there might be an easier way? Hopefully that is acceptable.

No wrinkles and just a couple bubbles on the first panel I wet applied. The panel edges are a good 1/8" thick at the seam as they are "s" hooked together so I trimmed just a bit off like you might do on a vehicle door edge as there isn't enough there to wrap the edge decent so it wouldn't peel up. I think that was the best option for longevity.

And the vinyl sticks well, especially now that it's been sitting in the sun

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Looks good, nice and clean.

 

[rjssigns]

Looks good. For easier installation we pull the fenders off.

 

[Stacey K]

Looks good. For easier installation we pull the fenders off.

I didn't think of that! I'll have to look at that for the next one. Thanks for the tip!

 

[De.signs Nanaimo]

Put painters masking tape, two strips wide on the fender edges close the the trailer wall, place your vinyl into position at the top portion, then drape down to the top of the fender. I cut while the backing paper is still on starting from the middle of the fender and work away from that, cutting about 1.5 to 2 inches away from the wall. If you make a cut cut in the middle of the fender towards the bottom, you can then do the front by itself, then the back separately. If you cut while you go (I sometimes mark with grease pencil first to be sure) then you can precut the entire fender out before applying.
The masking tape keeps surface tension low as you work into the fender from above, and allows you to cut the vinyl on the tape as well avoiding cuts to the fender, then you can tuck it into anything! This allows me perfect installs and keeps install time down.