Decal removal from truck

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xtahoex

New member
Hey guys, I am considering buying this f-150 and wanted to see if any of you have any experience removing decals of this kind. I talked to the owner and the decals are stick on, but I have not seen them yet in person. Thanks for any advice you can give!



f150.jpg
 
Usually those vinyl decals will come off, there is some issue as to whether the rest of the truck has faded/weathered and whether the pristine paint under the decals will look funny.
 
It all depends on how long that decal has been on that truck! The longer its been on, usually the harder it is to get off. Use a heat gun or a blow dryer, and slowly peel it off...make sure you dont bubble the paint if you use a heat gun! Might need to remove some adhesive, but you should be OK. Definatly will need a polish after your removei t though! Goodluck and take your time!
 
It'll come off with a hair dryer (or a very hot summer day) and a long fingernail.



I'm going to make the assumption that the truck was owned and taken care of by an older owner, so the truck is probably well taken care of.
 
Yes the truck does seem to be very well taken care of. He has a cover on the steering wheel and towels are covering all the carpet. If the paint underneath is more perfect do yall think a polishing would even out the look? Thanks again.
 
I bought a full sized van with similar stickers, only a lot more. 3m makes a sticker removal wheel that works great. I found I was scratching/marring with heat and finger nails. The issue is that even a year or two old vehicle will have paint that is less faded underneath. No amount of polishing is going to fix that.
 
I took all the dealer decals, and pinstriping off of my '95 Camry this past summer. It was almost 100 degrees out the day I did it and they came off quite easily. As Twista616 said, just take your time.



If you use a heat gun be VERY careful. I've read posts recently where people burned their paint and one guy even melted his tail light with a heat gun while trying to get decals or pinstriping off. A hair dryer will provide sufficient heat and be much safer, or just do what I did and wait for a hot summer day.



After you get them off, you'll need to clean the leftover adhesive off. I used "Goof Off", on most of it but you have to be real careful with that too. If you leave it on too long you can mess up your paint. I just did a quick wipe with it and didn't have any problems. Other people on the forum have recommended other products to get the adhesive off. Do a search and you'll come up with some products.



On my Camry, there were "ghost" images of the decals and pinstriping left behind. After a good polish and wax, you can only see them if you're looking for them, but they're still there if you look hard enough. Still looks 100% better without the decals/pinstripes though.



Good luck!
 
I was removing a pin stripe on a Cavalier today. I used a heat gun with little success and resorted to the rubber wheel (aka pinstripe remver). We did a similar decal removal with a rubber wheel on a white Tacoma. I personally wouldn't perform this on a car without having practiced before.
 
No need for a heat gun, but it helps to have the surface hot, as a little more of the glue will come off and it's easier to run the string behind the emblem. Hairdryer will do the job just fine. 3M General Purpose Adhesive remover and fishing line, after you have it warmed up a bit. Then use a rag to rub the rest off, and keep applying the adhesive remover while you are rubbing. FYI, I suggest rubbing with a rag, because it is faster and easier on your fingernails :D . Removed ALL (door molding and all emblems) from my silverado, and it looks great. No scratches from removing them, but I went over the areas with some ScratchX by hand to remove oxidation that had formed around the emblem (you could see the outlines of them).
 
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