Ok so since I got the truck the one thing I hate about its apearance more than anything else are the lame 80s/early 90s stock stripes.

Today I decided to do something about it, so I read around trying to find as much info as i could. Most people seem to use a heatgun or hair dryer and then peel the decals off. Then use some kind of solution to remove the adhesive.

A thread in 4x4wire mentioned this stuff called citrusstrip or something like that which works pretty well if you clean it off before it eats your paint. My problem is on one whole side of my truck (the side sittin in the sun all the time) the decals are cracked to hell and they won't peel even under heat. I tried applying the citrus stuff on top of the decal and it made a mess, and by the time it had any effect, it had cleared away a dime size portion of the clear coat.

I noticed people mentioning the eraser method, I'm not sure how it works, but I only have a crappy nicd battery powered drill with no spares so it would get annoying. Does anyone have any insite? I would gladly pay 50 bucks to have someone remove them, does maaco or someplace like that do this?

 

I love my stripes! Cheezy as all get out but they've grown on me!

That's just me.

 

yeah, nothing says late 90s/early 2000s like muted solid colors...

 

hahahaha...JUST, as in JUST CAME IN FROM, removing my stripes on my limited that were added at the dealership by "auto trim"...ugly bastards. They were "growing" on me too, but I KNEW my initial respons when I got the truck was "those must go". I like the factory ones below the window, but not the lower ones.

Anywas, Goo GOne workds we'll once you strip it. Use a hairdryer and a lot of paitence. Beware though, if your paint is faded, you will forever have a stripe where the stripe was, of nice paint.

 

with the hair dryer, gimmi an idea of how fast your progress was. I took off an entire 1.2 ft decal on the bottom of my door on the good paint side in maby 30 mins cleaned and everything. However, on the body long stripes, even on the good side, I've been struggling for over two hours and maby took off 5" square. I let it heat up real good and use my fingernails and peel from the corners. It seems impossible to even get started on the side with the cracked decals.

 

When I took mine off I used a heat gun and just keep it constantly moving in front of where I was pulling the decal. Don't keep the gun on top of the part you're pulling cause it will just melt it and the decal will pull apart. It took me 10 min on one side and about 30 on the other cause it was split all to hell. The 10 min side almost came off as solid strips. The glue I just rubbed the crap out of it with 3m and goof off.

 

maby a heat gun would work better for me, since i can be more precise with my aiming, ill see if i can get a hold of one. Anyone try the erasers? How long do they take on average?

 

LOL...I had an '85 4Runner with those decals. They were sooooooooooo '80s, but I liked them. They werent anywhere near as lame as the "4WD" mudflaps though.
Cap'n

 

ya, I ditched the flaps first thing.

 

i can't wait until 10 years from now when everybody is buying your guys used trucks and ditching the black wheels because they're soooo 2000's

 

Black wheels are kinda overdone.

 

how could you hate the stripes??????????? i had a custom copy pattern made from a picture and put them back on....not on the hood tho, but the side stripes are awesome!

 

I used the eraser to take the stripes off my 94 and it worked like a charm. It ended up taking some time, but most of that was down time, waiting on the drill. This project is an electric drill or 2 cordless drill job.
Because I was stuck with 1 cordless I was kinda rushing things a bit and missed a few glue spots, but I just got out the WD40 and went at it. Overall, I was very pleased, if not amazed with the eraser. Took some time for recharging but besides that, little to no effort.
Oh yeah, it also worked great on a few spots where my stripes were cracked and wouldn't peel like you talked about.

 

Awesome advice! Which eraser did you use?

 

I have removed tape pinstripes before, I was able to peel them after the car sat in the sun, I then used lemonjuice (the kind you get in a plastic yellow lemon at the grocery store) to remove the remaining adhesive. Then finished up with some mild polish and wax, couldn't tell it used to have pinstripes for the past ~10 years.

 

When I repainted my truck 13 years ago, I didn't care about the stripes one way or the other. However, a couple of years ago while walking, a mint 84/early 85 4x2 sr5 with the original stripes passed me by and I went completly bananas. Now I miss the hell out of those old stripes. Who could resist this

http://www.sr5.net/images/truck1.jpg

or this

http://www.turbotoys.net/2x4bb.html

 

You can go to your local auto paint supply store and buy a can of stuff called "decal removal". Worked like a charm for me, spray it on, wait a couple minutes and peel them off! I had to go over it a second time to get off the adhesive but it was well worth the money!

 

On my old 92 I accidently removed mine, by taking it to one of those do it yourself carwash places with the pressure hose. Man that hose took care of those stripes in about 7 minutes. It first shot off about a 5" section and then I was like "what am I supposed to do now?" so I just stayed until I had them completely removed. I then took it to a detailing shop and had them remove the adhesive for like $15. It looked 10 times better when it was all said and done with, it just wasn't really the way I had planned on getting them off.

 

I could do it for 35 bucks, but you would have to drive to nebraska.....lol
Decal removal is part of my job.

 

I can't remember who made the eraser...I know 3m makes a good one. I just went to a paint and laquer supply place and told them what I planned on doing and they knew exactly what I was looking for. It cost about $15 I believe. A little steeper than all the sprays and such but I figure was worth it because of the lack of work involved. Good luck!!