Bed side decal removal fyi

Where are you located, was it a really warm day outside?
That’s what I’m seeing, but bunch of guys on here feel otherwise and had a different experience…
I like the Tacoma badge on the door, but must be blacked out, financially makes more sense to just remove it, guess that would look cleaner also…

 

I bought my 991 used with some really ugly ass decals on the hood, roof, and doors because the previous owner thought that he was a parking lot race car driver.

They were Porsche OEM, just not for that specific model, so they were designed to stay on there.

Leaving the car out on a hot day and using a heat gun on low setting or a hair dryer usually removes everything so I’m wondering why you had such a hard time.

 

I live in AZ and didnt even need a heat gun. Just peeled right off with no residue left behind.

 

I’m in San Diego, the warm days are behind us.
Don’t think 77 is going to cut it…
But this does make a lot of sense in my mind.
Peeled one back on the dealer a lot due to it had a huge ripple in it and it wanted to come right off, Hot day, a few months back..

 

The decals look bad / crooked, truck looks much better without them.

They are not the same decals as previous gens. They are not simple vinyl, they are multi-layer and sticky layer is super hard to remove.

Heat gun will delaminate the layers from each other and leave the sticky layer on the truck. A few have had success, but currently unsure how, was not able to replicate.

3M wheel should not damage the paint if used at lowest RPM required to remove the decal and not left in one place to overheat the clear coat. No clear coat / paint damage in my case.

See my experience here

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/remove-trd-and-door-stickers.843802/page-2#post-30183075

 

I wanted to try this in the future, but I think you all talked me out of it. Looks good though!

 

Sounds like mixed results, some are JB welded on and some are stuck on with Elmer‘s glue…

 

Southeast Texas, just West of Houston. It was early August and stupid hot. I'm sure that helped. My Tacoma badges were black but all they do is trap dirt. I kept them on for a bit then just removed them.

 

Im hoping for those that struggled, just didnt apply enough heat...

 

booyah!!!!
My speculation seems correct from what I just experienced & personally witnessed..
Well, it’s 78° here in San Diego,
I wouldn’t say a warm day.
Put the truck out front of my house at 9 AM and at about 1 PM the stickers peeled right off in 30 seconds & left no adhesive behind.
This morning when I attempted to pick at it. They were as hard as nails.
No plastic scraper, no 3m magic wheel, no blow dryer, no heat gun, absolutely nothing but a rag with some wax on it after I got the sticker off.
I’ll take the small win after the drama I’ve been through…
But now that the stickers off, it did look good with it also…

 

Heres another thought / observation on the topic since I was successful & thinking about it....
Leaving the vehicle in the warm / hot sun for hours before attempting to pull the sticker...
What this does is heats the entire metal panel under the sticker allowing the glue to loosen-up.
vs using a blow-dryer or heat gun & being cautious & scared to not overheat the paint, only applies heat to the top layer of the sticker & doesnt really loosen what counts the glue down deep...
due to youre not getting enough heat dissipation into the metal which is what really works the glue into something soft & sticky vs hard & gooluck, impossible to remove....

 

Now adhere those old decals to your tool chest or whatever. Maybe paint in a little comma so it reads “TRD, Sport.”

 

i had to use the wheel to get mine off, took a total of 2 minutes each side. No issues with the paint or clear coat as long as you keep steady pressure and constant movement.

picking at it with my nail and a hairdryer left me with this after an hour.

then i ordered the 3M adhesive wheel.

 

That’s my point, I don’t think it was warm enough when you started picking at it, the base of the sticker never broke free from the paint because there wasn’t enough heat to break down the glue in the metal/side of the bed.
Another example, I can’t get those sun visor labels off right now to save my life…
I should’ve tried when I was dealing with the bed stickers, but didn’t think about it, now it’s a bit chilly and they’re just JB welded on, won’t budge, can’t even start peeling the corner.

 

My sunvisor stickers came off ok.. just left the truck in the sun for a while and just grabbed the edges with a utility knife and just pulled them off.. there was some glue left behind so sprayed the glue with some goo-gone let it set for about 15 mins then took some scotch bright pads and just rubbed the glue residue off. Then I used some carpet cleaner to clean up the goo-gone Came out perfect took about 30 mins

 

Yeah, need to wait for another warm day…
Well, I was dealing with the bed stickers, I completely spaced out on the visor stickers…

 

Thankfully I don’t have the bedside stickers

 

It was painless, literally 30 seconds a side...
Just trying to point out, heat from the sun so the side of the bed is nice & toasty before attempting is key for those that are going to attempt this in the future...

 

Sunvisors done.
Those are glued onreally well but truck baking in the sun was key…
Straight non diluted goo-gone afterwards..
Gtg

 

Mine were a nightmare . First side took 2-3 hours even with a heat gun and goo gone automotive . Not my first rodeo with decal removal either but this one frustrated the ever living shit out of me.

Second side I just heated the decal up in stages and took a plastic scraper tool to remove the bulk of the sticker . Then used 91% isopropyl to remove all the residue . This side took around 45 minutes.

Slater you are super lucky yours just peeled off .