DIY truck wrap with matte black vinyl

Here is my thread on how I wrapped (in progress) my 2012 Raptor. I am going to try to be as detailed as I can so that if someone else decides to try this, they will at least have a good idea how easy or hard it will be.

I want to wrap the flares and bumpers too. I have only seen one other truck that looks like he did that too and it looks sweet. I think he is from Minnesota too.

I am thinking that I will be starting the wrap in the next week or so. I will update this thread with more information as I go, so subscribe to the thread if you are interested. Here is what I have so far.

Updated with lengths of sections (all dimensions are from a 5' wide roll)
Hood = 6'
Front Fenders = 5' (x2)
Rear Fenders = 7' (x2)
Side doors = 9' (x2)
Roof = 7'
Front Facia = 8' (lots of waste here, the stip only needed to be 24" tall)
Rear Bumper = used scrap from Front Facia two 3' strips
Front Flares = 5' (able to cut the flares in an S pattern)
Rear Flares = 6'


First, I did a lot of internet research of how to wrap vinyl on cars. I watched a lot of YouTube videos. This was how I figured it would be possible to do it myself... but then again, I believe that anyone can do anything they want, they may not be the best at it, but it can be done.

Second, I ordered everything I needed to get the job done:


Third, some of the things I learned before starting

Here are some pics of the products












Here is some good videos to watch...

Check out all of the video from Cookie. He is an Australian 3M vinyl guy
3MCG1 - YouTube

Contours
3M Vehicle Wraps for Severe Contours - YouTube

Tools
Tools of the Trade - YouTube

Complex Contours
3M Complex Contours Application for Vehicles - YouTube

Heating and pulling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXln8s5KFOs

Any pictures of the truck done yet?

Holy Hell Batman!

better you than me. I'd rather give myself a root canal than try to lay that much tape properly. I do screen protectors on phones at my store and they are enough to drive me nuts.

Smokinjo said:

Any pictures of the truck done yet?

Click to expand...

I haven't started yet. I just got back from my inlaws in Wisconsin... got a cold that knocked me out for a week and I just getting over that.

I am guessing I won't be doing the whole thing at one time. I wil probably start with the hood first one night... then maybe a fender or roof. I usually don't get a whole weekend that I can devote my truck, so it will be getting done off an on.

Can't wait to see some of progress pictures.

X2, I can't wait to see how you progress; you're a brave soul.

Can't wait to see this. I would never try this one myself but waiting to see some pictures.

Did you also get all the rollers and the heat gun?

Ok, I did the hood of my raptor yesterday. What did I learn....

- The hood is a two person job. One to hold and the other to heat and squeegee. I did it myself, but it took way longer than it should have. 3 hrs with removing hood vents and cleaning.

- you can't use the magnets on the hood to hold the vinyl... Cuz it is fiberglass. I had to use tape.

- Wait to trim until you have gone over the whole install again with a final squeegee. I caught a bubble, but wasn't able to pull the vinyl up and fix since I didn't have any extra vinyl to pull.

- Don't cut the vinyl too close to the edge for the hood vents. You need to leave a good inch and a half over lap. I will supply pics when I do it the second time.

-...and again, two people would make it easier with the hood.

With that said, it looks awesome. The vinyl is super easy to work with. You can lay it down, pull it back up, heat it, lay it down again.

I will probably pull the vinyl off the hood and redo it with some help. I feel the fenders and doors will be a bit easier with one person doing it.

It is raining like a **** here this weekend so I probably won't be touching it for a couple days .

Also, I did some measuring and since I am doing my bumpers and flares, I am going to need some more vinyl... And since I will redo the hood I will need more anyway.

kendasf said:

Did you also get all the rollers and the heat gun?

Click to expand...

Didn't get the rollers and I already had a Black and Decker heat gun

dear mother of god your a brave soul my man .....good luck cant wait to see it how it comes out