What is it with the new style Mercedes Sprinter?

[John Childs]

What’s the problem Craig? It’s very shallow, so we just ignore it.

[Chris Wool]

i haven’t a problem either my customers cant afford one of them

[Karl Williams]

quote Chris Wool:

i haven’t a problem either my customers cant afford one of them

You quick witted git! 😉

[Craig Bond]

I have not seen one in ‘the flesh’ as yet. I am going on pictures from a web site and the vehicle profile. It looks very deep to me, enough to distort any lettering.

I hope your right John about being able to ignore it, it will make life much easier.

[John Childs]

Well, if your text is tiny it might distort a bit, but anything normal sized will be fine.

This photo is trying to show the depth of the recess. It’s only about 10mm but, just as importantly, it isn’t sharp. It only angles in at about forty five degreees, which reduces the problem.

Stripes are normally the first thing to show distortion. I’ve taken a side on view so you can see that it is so little that it can be ignored. I’m having trouble uploading it though. I’ll keep trying, then you can make your own call regarding your own layout.

[Robert Lambie]

does he not mean the deep gouge around the high up panel that swoops down near the back end?

[John Childs]

quote Robert Lambie:

does he not mean the deep gouge around the high up panel that swoops down near the back end?

Don’t think so from the description.

However, confirmation will be along soon if I’m wrong. 😀

[Craig Bond]

Yes John that is the curve.

Thanks for the pic.

Looking at it I can’t now see a problem. I am going to be putting a orange strip down the side from just level to the door handle bottoms to the wheel arch. Lettering is going to be placed within this orange area. There will be some distortion but nothing that will detract from readability. A good choice of material is going to be needed as I feel the heat gun is going to be coming out!!

Many Thanks for your replies

[Peter Normington]

Craig, I dont think you will need the heat gun, any good quality vinyl should suffice, doesnt even need to be cast as nothing with complex curves, That is if you are doing this?

Peter

[Craig Bond]

A lot deeper Peter. To the plastic trim. Sorry if I was a bit vague

[John Childs]

quote Craig Bond:

A lot deeper Peter. To the plastic trim. Sorry if I was a bit vague

Ah, right. Forget the gash, that’s not your problem. Look to the eyebrows over the wheelarches.

A good vinyl, the van in the pic uses Avery 900, and plenty of heat. That and good preparation will see you right.

[Chris Wool]

john interesting amount of overlap of the colours and in the fleet world is the amount of white showing acceptable.
not a criticism as from most viewing angles it would be fine but there will be customers that would not accept this ? how do you overcome this

chris

[Craig Bond]

Looking at your picture John you would have needed a bit of heat. I am going to be using MacFleet for this job.

I have used it for a few years now and it seems to just get better. Obviously good prep is a must.

The ‘eyebrows’ on the wheel arch seem to be a bit acute. It would really help when I see the van in ‘the flesh’ but that wont be until the beginning of July. I am trying to stay ahead of myself, but your picures have helped a great deal.

Cheers

[John Childs]

quote Chris Wool:

in the fleet world is the amount of white showing acceptable.

Which bit of white are you referring to Chris? If it’s the bit around the wheelarch it’s the result of experience, our recommendation and customer choice.

It’s a historic thing dating back to when this customer used the old shape LT35. The problems on those were that the vinyl wouldn’t stick properly there, as well as long as along the sills, due partly to the stippled paint and partly the time and cost of adequately removing the factory applied protective transit wax. Plus that area gets flayed by road dirt and debris thrown up off the wheels. The solution on those vans was to paint those areas, as well as the rear lower door hinges.

It was a satisfactory solution, but the leasing company didn’t like it because of the cost of paint removal at end of life, even though we used old fashioned cellulose which would wipe off with thinners, and wanted to charge extra.

The arrival of the new model gave the customer a chance to re-assess the amount of white that was acceptable to them, and that was the decision they made. I should also mention that, from dead side on, white is also visible in the door shuts. When that design was introduced, on the LT shape, the customer was adamant that he wanted the door shuts covered in red also, until I pointed out the cost implication, when he changed his mind.

Another thing is that when I say "customer" it is not that same person. The person responsible for vans has changed three times since that design was introduced in 2004 and they all have a differing balance of acceptability and practicality. As much as we can we change the way we do them to suit whoever is in charge at any given time.

Finally, I hope, this customer has tremendous problems with accident damage repair. Most bodyshops can do flat panel work, but don’t have thelevel of expertise to do something like this. The result is high cost for us to drive around the country fixing them, which the insurance company won’t pay for, or for vans to be on the road with lumps of livery missing. Neither of those scenarios are acceptable, so compromises are made to reduce the problem. The new shape, and the way we do it today, has reduced these difficulties tremendously.

I know what you mean about overlap. It’s actually not as bad in the flesh as it looks on the photo, but I know what you mean. We wouldn’t do it for a local company, but then the low volume man would be paying half as much again as we charge for these. Again, cost benefit – arrived at after consultation with the customer.

[John Childs]

quote Craig Bond:

Looking at your picture John you would have needed a bit of heat. I am going to be using MacFleet for this job.

MacFleet should be fine.

Bags of heat, but it’s only those "eyebrows" that need it.

[Chris Wool]

thanks for your time john.
its a balance between looks and practicality
yes i have won and lost with fleet manager changes some you can talk to some not

chris

[John Childs]

After typing all that Chris, I’m just grateful that you read it all. My fingers hurt. 😀

Change of fleet manager, takeover, mergers, etc etc, are all dangerous times.

With this particular company we have survived a merger and six changes of fleet manager. The first one we dealt with, twelve years ago, is now the managing director.