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Does anyone here do any fleet graphics?  We striped our local Fire Department vehicles maybe 4-5 years ago and the reflective is starting to turn black.
We used oracal Oralite 5600 series reflective vinyl. White and red on red trucks.

My questions are, how long do you usually expect fleet graphics/stripes to last?
How often are they usually replaced?
Is it normal for reflective to turn black after so many years?

What type of reflective is normally used for Vehicle Graphics?

I attached some pics below...

post-70098-0-97759800-1381185652_thumb.j

post-70098-0-55866700-1381185656_thumb.j

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Most municipalities around here specify 3M reflective but even that fades after time.  it depends on whether the vehicle sits out in the sun more than it's in the shade.  Another thing that will make reflective turn dark is if it's installed wet.  It also seems silver fades the fastest, it's also the thinnest, you can try laminating it with a UV protective laminate. 

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So this was originally white reflective, installed dry and sealed with seat-it pen.

But also you told me what we were thinking, we started switching to 3M at least for our reflectives.

Does it really last that much longer? Long enough to justify nearly twice the cost?

Does all reflective turn black? (eventually)

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7 year life expectancy. 5 years its going to degrade depending on how it was cared for and so many variables that you have not seen. 5 years on a vehicle I would say is about all you can expect from that material. Why use pen? I would think that would hinder life as any solvent like that in contact with the film and adhesive would have adverse affects over time. Really hard to tell from picture what is happening also. 

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If it's garaged mainly it'll last quite a while but the more time it spends outside the faster the UV will degrade it.

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Honestly we used a seal-it pen because another sign shop recommended it.  We were thinking the same thing that 5 years is really pretty good especially if it's not garaged. And these are not,

they are well taken care of but not garaged, the big fire engines are and we showed them the difference.

@mopar691: would you use any kind of sealant? or just install dry and leave it alone?

 

The really interesting thing about this whole scenario, is the white trucks we did that I haven't mentioned yet, the white and red reflective is not doing this.  It's faded a little but nothing like these trucks,

we also have done several other vehicles for our Emergency management, and all the reflective on thier windows turns black in under two years.

 

We also did another dark blue truck that had reflective "mountains" on both sides and it has turned black in under a year.

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I've got a feeling it's because of the heat.  The white or lighter colored cars reflect the heat as the darker cars absorb the heat causing the vinyl to turn black quicker .  Same for the windows the inside of the cars heat up in the sun so you have heat from the interior of the vehicle and from the sun it's self.

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I've got a feeling it's because of the heat.  The white or lighter colored cars reflect the heat as the darker cars absorb the heat causing the vinyl to turn black quicker .  Same for the windows the inside of the cars heat up in the sun so you have heat from the interior of the vehicle and from the sun it's self.

Ok we were thinking the same thing, but on the windows it's only lasting a year, and when I say turning black, it doesn't look like pics above, the white reflective is literally black.

Would 3M last significantly longer on windows, or is it a bad idea all around to do reflective on windows?

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I have 3M reflective on the back window of the wagon for close to a year and it looks fine other than I need to wash my car.

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Ok we were thinking the same thing, but on the windows it's only lasting a year, and when I say turning black, it doesn't look like pics above, the white reflective is literally black.

Would 3M last significantly longer on windows, or is it a bad idea all around to do reflective on windows?

 

I've never compared Oracal to 3m reflective vinyl but I do know that the 3m lasts on the factory tinted window of the Fire Suburbans for more than 1 year.  I have used a cheap calendered vinyl to put a small number in the corner of a windshield that turns brown after a short time and if I do the same with a cast Oracal vinyl it lasts quite a while longer.  

 

I use Oracal cast vinyl for most everything  but on emergency vehicles they request 3m so that's what has to be used.

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We use Cast Oracal 751 too, and it has never been a problem, but Oracal 5600 Reflective has obviously been causing issues.

It's a shame too because it's real conformable, It looks like we'll have to switch to 3M its just that it's so expensive...

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We specialize in fleet graphics and have a location near Pagosa Springs, Colorado. We do estimates for trucks and fleets also. You can get more information from the following website:

 

You can also get an estimate for your fleet at the following link:

 

 

Hope this helps!

Really? You must not be very astute if you don't realize that you are posting to a forum of installers. Good luck with that....

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Really? You must not be very astute if you don't realize that you are posting to a forum of installers. Good luck with that....

 

And a 2 year old thread.

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We specialize in fleet graphics and have a location near Pagosa Springs, Colorado. We do estimates for trucks and fleets also. You can get more information from the following website:

http://www.custom-car-wraps.com/fleet-graphics-and-fleet-vehicle-wraps/

 

You can also get an estimate for your fleet at the following link:

http://www.custom-car-wraps.com/wrap-shop/find-a-wrap-shop-near-you/

 

Hope this helps!

why does your ip address point to southern california then?   inquiring minds have many questions as you can see

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Your sarcasm meter must not be functioning correctly. We all know you are here solely for SEO purposes. You didn't have to be dense and post again.

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