Decal problems

[gpshemi]

I've had decal issues for some time now, probably 3 years easy, but it's just now getting to be a problem I'm not sure I can live with.

Decals all over the coach have shrank leaving a grey (backing?) bordering around the stripes. A very weird thing. The door decal shrank so much that it's showing 1/4" or more and has a bunched up area in the middle now. It's right in your face when walking in. It's one of those things that catches your attention and you think...what the heck is going on there?

I've also started to get cracking on several of the blue (only blue) stripes, and only in misc areas. This is terrible looking and I absolutely hate it. It makes the coach look 15yrs old. I'm not sure what to do about it. Anyone else have to deal with this? My next coach may be full body paint, or at least clear coat the whole thing.

 

[GOTTOYS]

If you contact heartland customer service they can send you a diagram of any decals they may still have. You can pick out which ones you need and order them. It seems that a lot of decals just don't last more than 4-5 years and need to be replaced. Between the decals cracking, the end caps fading and turning white and the gray wheel skirts turning brown and blistering, I wish I would have bought just a plain white trailer with no decals. I've spent a lot of money trying to keep this thing looking nice ..Don

 

[gpshemi]

I've heard that. I also read they had a bad spell of decals around 2010 also. Seems like an expensive option to go. Perhaps removing them for paint is a better idea.
IDK...it's troubling.

Do you know if Heartland offers a clear coat instead of full paint? I wonder if that would get the benefits of full body paint (easier clean up / higher gloss) without all the expense, yet preserve the decals better.

 

[Bob&Patty]

They do not last more that 2-3 years in direct sun and hot climates. Our next coach will be F/B paint. HL coaches are not the only ones that do it.

 

[GOTTOYS]

Clear coat is generally used over a base coat of paint. It's part of the base coat/clear coat system used on most new cars. Clear coat is not generally used by itself and if it was applied over decals it would make them impossible to remove. I do not know of anyone that uses just a clear coat finish. If they did it would not be much less expensive than full body paint as would be applied over the entire coach in the same way except it would be just clear and pigmented. Same amount of prep and same product.. Everybody has problems with decals, some more than others. Montana had huge problems with theirs around late 1990s/2000. On mine it is the gold colored sweep type decals that are going bad. I have new ones, but I'm just waiting for them to look bad enough to warrant replacement. Hard to justify $8-10,000.00 for full body paint that will look dated in a few years and not do that much for resale, just eliminate the decal problem...

 

[TravelTiger]

We've had decal issues. HL factory replaced some during our frame flex repair, but some of them have failed again. Next rig will be full body paint. But I've seen other brands with far worse looking decals!!


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[gpshemi]

It lives in Michigan. Not much heat or blazing sun here.

People have cleared over filon before. That's not new. It wouldn't be the same work to clear it versus full body paint. Fb paint has the added work of taping amd masking for every color change in the stripes. It's a huge job. There's a big difference. I just don't know what clearing the decals would do. I know it's been done in jetskis and other toys.