Avery 3 mil on vehicles?

[motoxchic 33]

I was checking out some vinyl on a family members construction pickup the other day.  It was super thick, seemed even thicker than the 5500 Oralite Reflective I have.  I called the shop that cut them and he was 'semi' helpful, just mentioned he uses Avery 3mil a lot and something about American Traffic (something something).. 

 

Just curious what heavy duty stuff you might use on construction vehicles that end up in brush, and other types of construction-y abuse.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

I'd bet that's calendared vinyl. Thicker doesn't equate to better although it might equate to tougher in some situations. It definitely equates to cheaper. I have gotten away with Oracal 651 cast in a lot of flat app situations but I tend to shy away from vehicles or trailers with anything but a good cast that can handle the amount of expansion and contraction that goes on. I put a big rectangle of black green star with some white lettering on top (about 36" x 10") on one of our 40 ton articulated dump trucks a month ago. We needed to cover up an old logo from previous owner and I though that would be a great real world test of that cheap stuff we all love to bash so much.  I'm curious how long it will go without showing shrinkage issues etc... 

[motoxchic 33]

I also use try to use 751 on vehicles or boats, etc.  I know I had some Greenstar scraps in my closet from a year ago, and you can tell where it shrunk on my cut edges. 

 

I do know that this relative had a local shop do it, who in turn had to sub out the cutting (because it was so thick?) and only charged them $50 total...which was a ridiculously low price for the job.  I think it took them so long and they probably just covered cost.

[Wildgoose 4,200]

We have a guy in our area that outsources basically everything. He just takes orders and gets the items done elsewhere so he has no equipment overhead and just installs or even hires out the install as part of the deal. I don't know that i would want to work that way but I can see where if you were real good at sales but not at the other parts you could still make money if you can get the shops to give you a break from retail. I have had a local shop print a digital job I had a couple years ago and I have asked for an occasional quote for other things but they are soooo pricey that I end up just layering vinyl and saving the money for my pocket. I plan to use Dakota here on the forum next time I have an application. whether he is any cheaper or not won't really even matter, at least I'm pseudo friends with him! These other guys just consider me a competitor and grudgingly do me the favor of gracing me with their services.