40FT CurtainTrailer. ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE!

[Derek Heron]

i may be wrong but banner vinyl is a no no specialist truck vinyl i think there are a few posts on this.
just in case your pricing with banner vinyl hang fire and i will have another look .

[Derek Heron]

found this ryan hope it helps
https://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.p … uck#103287

[Brian Little]

Ryan …STOP!!!!!!!!!! .it most certainly isnt mate .please dont make that expensive mistke there is material that is specially made for it ….dont no which supplier stocks it but no dought someone will get back tou

Regards Brian

[Phil Halling]

Try Robert Horne group – the only succesful vinyls for curtains are "signflex" by Avery or 3M "Controltac 190" both an arm & leg.
DO NOT USE BANNER MATERIAL

[Robert Lambie]

APA do the lowest costing truck vinyl that i know of, i don’t do them often as i prefer to body swerve them, but have used the APA stuff and haven’t had any problems at all…
as has been said, this is NOT banner vinyl. some sales staff "in the past" have argued with me that their banner is for curtains. "its not"

you will need more than one man fitting this as it is extremely tacky…
depending on the size of graphic… a good tip is "if you have a spare guy" have him lean against the inside of the truck curtain with a .5 or .75 inch thick sheet of plywood, while you and another body apply the graphic to the face. i have done this with huge logos and letters. might sound daft but works well…

[Ryan Fairweather]

Dont worry guys, i havent started on Banner vinyl 😀

Didnt think it would suit the job and seemed to remember reading something on here…hence the question.

How about the application side of things? Would you apply onto the curtain on the lorry or try to have it removed and apply that way.

Seems to me that if i apply onto the curtain when its clamped down etc..i will get a straight image.
If i apply loose and the curtain is the clamped it would distort the logo?

[Ryan Fairweather]

quote Robert Lambie:

APA do the lowest costing truck vinyl that i know of, i don’t do them often as i prefer to body swerve them, but have used the APA stuff and haven’t had any problems at all…
as has been said, this is NOT banner vinyl. some sales staff “in the past” have argued with me that their banner is for curtains. “its not”

you will need more than one man fitting this as it is extremely tacky…
depending on the size of graphic… a good tip is “if you have a spare guy” have him lean against the inside of the truck curtain with a .5 or .75 inch thick sheet of plywood, while you and another body apply the graphic to the face. i have done this with huge logos and letters. might sound daft but works well…

Sorry Rob, you beat me to it 😀

Have you a contact for APA?

[Carol Davies]

We always use avery hellishly expensive but it does work well
The first time I used it we fitted 4 trucks and I messed one
letter up, nasty crease on an O, made the mistake of leaving
it on till the next day, when I returned with new O It took me
a painstaking hour to remove a 6" O 🙁 I won’t do that again in
a hurry!

I would be interested in a contact no for the APA product isnt
the dome where they used be???

Carol

[Andy Gorman]

APA 0208 311 4400

I’ve found that, due to the reinforcing strips on some curtains, that it is good to hinge and squeegee from right to left. As opposed to top to bottom. This seems to work the vinyl over the slight ribbing effect of the reinforcing strips. (By reinforcing strips I mean a double layer of curtain material on the back and over where the fixing straps are.)

[John Childs]

If fitting on the vehicle, wind the curtain down as tight as you can and take all measurements from the top.

[Phil Halling]

As john says measure from the top, but measure from the metal part of the roof as opposed to the plastic pelmet as that can vary slightly.

Also if it’s a 13.6m trailer, if at all possible, snap a chalk line from front to back about 75mm down the curtain and measure from that as most trailers actually bow a little in the middle when the curtains are strapped down taught.

[Peter Normington]

I have to disagree with John and Phil, When the curtains are taught, they tend to cause the roof to bow, the trailer side rails will remain straight, so I would measure from the botttom or better still as phil says use a chalk line front to back down the centre.

Peter

[Rod Gray]

quote Peter Normington:

I have to disagree with John and Phil, When the curtains are taught, they tend to cause the roof to bow, the trailer side rails will remain straight, so I would measure from the botttom or better still as phil says use a chalk line front to back down the centre.

Peter

Spot on Peter.

The top rail on a curtain sided vehicle, even a brand new one, will "bow" when the curtains are pulled tight.

It`s important that you measure up from the bottom of the curtain where it folds in under the side rave.

We`ve been lettering curtains since 1956 (not me personally as i`m only a pup 😀 ) and we still consider them a pain in the erse.

APA tape is the way to go but it can be very tricky to fit if the curtain ain`t pulled as tight as a drumskin.

Depending on the amount of lettering involved we use either ink or APA truck vinyl. If the curtains are covered in lettering, we go for ink. If it is a small amount, we use Truck Vinyl.

[Phil Halling]

Right : poser for you… if you measure from the bottom as suggested, what do you do if the floor slopes ie: the 5th wheel end is higher than the rear, if you do not have the luxury of manufacturers drawings and the road the trailer is on may not be level.

[Rod Gray]

We use a chalkline to complete the entire length then Phil.

i.e. We`d measure along as far as the fifth wheel area and then increase the height of the chalkline giving us a perfectly straight line to work off.

Hard to explain without diagrams but i`ll try and look out a pic of a completed job.

[Phil Halling]

I see that would give you a straight line, but not necessarily a level one.
I suppose you could go at right angles to the tensioning straps but even that is a bit "guessy".
To look correct the livery surely HAS to appear parallel to the roof.

[Peter Normington]

Phill, 99% of curtainside trailers are a box shape or a step frame So therefore on paper the roof is parallel to the floor. (they are made this way so pallettes fit in them) In practice the roof can bow, so the best datum line is a chalk line measured either from the roof down or floor up to the centre of the corner posts and the length of the trailer. I agree that the graphics should be parallel to the roof, but I was pointing out that the roof is not always straight. as you Had already pointed out by suggesting a chalk line originally.

Peter

[George Elsmore]

quote Andy Gorman:

APA 0208 311 4400

I’ve found that, due to the reinforcing strips on some curtains, that it is good to hinge and squeegee from right to left. As opposed to top to bottom. This seems to work the vinyl over the slight ribbing effect of the reinforcing strips. (By reinforcing strips I mean a double layer of curtain material on the back and over where the fixing straps are.)

I searched the boards for apa’s phone number and found this post so i wrote down the number and called apa the reply i got was "welcome to Belmarsh Prison" 😮 I thought its that Andy Gormon on a wind up!!! but i had wrote the number down wrong 02083314400 😳 😳 😳
sorry for thinking you had stitched me up Mr Gorman 😀

G

[Andy Gorman]

I wish I had thought of that George.

Reminder: Give George the number for The Vatican next time he asks for a phone number…..