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(November 2010) posted on Tue Oct 26, 2010

Even the simplest vehicle wraps present challenges.

By Rob Ivers

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Rob Ivers owns Rob Ivers Inc. (Raymore, MO), a vehicle-graphics and installation company. He’s installed vinyl since 1978 and taught vinyl-graphics installation since 1993. For more information, visit www.robivers.com

Compared with other types of vehicle wraps, box trucks are the easiest. They’re smaller than trailers, flatter than cars, and complex shapes and obstructions don’t hamper graphic design or installation. Unless the box has a side door, or has been customized, you’ll find the sides mostly free of obstacles. Not many clients want perforated window film or roof graphics for box trucks, which simplifies production. And, flat-surface installations require less effort than complex curves.

The trucks themselves are ideal for many businesses; they’re large enough for equipment or deliveries, small enough for city streets, and, when wrapped, provide a powerful advertising punch. These factors create good value for the client, and make box-truck wraps an easy sell.

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Tricks of the trade

For a fleeting moment, I had myself almost convinced that box-truck graphic installations were easy. But, they do present some unique challenges. Box trucks’ rear, roll-up doors provide most of them -- and a good topic for this month’s column. Rear roll-up doors are generally the dirtiest part of any truck, so, let’s start with cleaning.

I’m a stickler for efficiency, and these doors required some analysis. The filthier a vehicle is, the wetter it must be for cleaning. However, when a truck or trailer with rivets and seams gets soaking wet, moisture accumulates behind those rivets and seams. When this happens, vinyl doesn’t stick. The main surface can be dried with towels, but waiting for rivets and seams to dry requires at least 24 hours or using a propane torch to dry each and every rivet and seam. Of course, waiting 24 hours is impractical in most cases.