Decals shrinking

[N6TZU]

Anyone know a solution for the decals shrinking on my four-year-old Thor hurricane? It only seems to be the gray color. I had a cougar fifth wheel before this and all those decals were going bad and Thor would have have nothing to do with it. I don’t see other motorhomes with their decals shrinking and peeling off. Any suggestions?

[16ACE27]

If you look at mine up close you'll see all kinds of cracks due to shrinkage. It seems some colors are more affected than others. Part of living in the sunshine I guess.

[Chateau_Nomad]

Keeping them coated with a UV blocking coating from day one will help. I'm sure the environment they're exposed to (sun, extreme temperature changes, etc.) will greatly accelerate their demise. For me it's just an inevitable casualty I'll have to eventually accept... because I was too cheap to pay for full body paint.

[Jimbo56]

Jerry removed all from his Hurricane. I don’t really care about mine. I’ll clean it and wax it . But shrinking, cracked, peeling decals don’t bother me. The exterior will end up fading and becoming dull. It’ll never maintain looking like a full body paint coach.

[Pete'sMH]

I have a friend with a 15yo Coachman with badly faded, shrunken and peeling decals. He figured he had nothing to lose so he took them off completely, masked the remaining ghost images and spray painted them with rattle can paint. They look darn good and 100% better than they were.

[Mr Sunshine]

Originally Posted by Pete'sMH

I have a friend with a 15yo Coachman with badly faded, shrunken and peeling decals. He figured he had nothing to lose so he took them off completely, masked the remaining ghost images and spray painted them with rattle can paint. They look darn good and 100% better than they were.

I did the same a few years ago on a previous coach. It was the black stripes that went bad. After the rattle can spray, I applied clear coat, again with a rattle can. Used pinstriping for a good edge then masked off with painters tape and newspapers.

I had considered leaving the area where the black stripes were bare, but I felt it looked weird unless I removed them all.

[lwmcguire]

A few years back neighbor had his Montana decals replaced, total cost at the time was less than 1K, sure likely to be a bit more now

It did bring the 5th wheel back to looking like new

[trowan]

Originally Posted by N6TZU

Anyone know a solution for the decals shrinking on my four-year-old Thor hurricane? It only seems to be the gray color. I had a cougar fifth wheel before this and all those decals were going bad and Thor would have have nothing to do with it. I don’t see other motorhomes with their decals shrinking and peeling off. Any suggestions?

I've heard through detail guys that some waxing products can cause this. Talk to a local detail shop.

[cgeace29.3]

They are a bear to remove but can be done with a heat gun and plastic blade scraper then use goof off to remove residue.
I had mine redone once I removed them at one of the shops that does vehicle wraps

[MLP]

Their is two grades of vinyl. Five and seven year. All will fade and crack over time. So the best to to, if motivated, remove one at a time, tape and shield, and rattle cane it then clear coat it. I will never get a vinyl anything RV finished anymore. If you havce money, get a good RV paint shop to do it. But if you could afford that, you would most likely not have a rig with vinyl.