So I have had my truck for about 8 months. A few months ago I removed the Grand Cherokee door emblems and Jeep hood emblem. Bought an extra set of SRT emblems..plastidipped those and the Jeep logo on the rear brow. Love the blacked out look with a white truck especially with the black chrome spider monkey wheels. I couldn't commit to blacking out the grill rings and window mouldings but after months of checking out pics on this forum..I had to do it. I went to a local shop where I had my windows tinted when I first bought the truck and they wanted $600 to wrap the window mouldings, seven upper grill rings and two lower grill rings. I'm a DIY guy and like to work on my own truck so I know everything was done right so figured I'm gonna do it myself. I am very meticulous and took my good old time getting it just right and the outcome is awesome. I used 3M gloss black 1080 scotch print and materials cost me $65. All said and done I have about 6 hours into doing all the trim but think overall it has changed the look of the truck and made it even more badass. Anyone looking to tackle the project themselves I used...1 roll of 12x60 for the grill and lower rings and one roll of 24x60 for the door mouldings. That gave me plenty of extra incase of any mistakes. Only other tools needed are an exacto type knife with some replacement blades, a plastic squeegee tool, microfiber towel and a bottle of windex...and last but not least...patience and a steady hand.
So I have had my truck for about 8 months. A few months ago I removed the Grand Cherokee door emblems and Jeep hood emblem. Bought an extra set of SRT emblems..plastidipped those and the Jeep logo on the rear brow. Love the blacked out look with a white truck especially with the black chrome spider monkey wheels. I couldn't commit to blacking out the grill rings and window mouldings but after months of checking out pics on this forum..I had to do it. I went to a local shop where I had my windows tinted when I first bought the truck and they wanted $600 to wrap the window mouldings, seven upper grill rings and two lower grill rings. I'm a DIY guy and like to work on my own truck so I know everything was done right so figured I'm gonna do it myself. I am very meticulous and took my good old time getting it just right and the outcome is awesome. I used 3M gloss black 1080 scotch print and materials cost me $65. All said and done I have about 6 hours into doing all the trim but think overall it has changed the look of the truck and made it even more badass. Anyone looking to tackle the project themselves I used...1 roll of 12x60 for the grill and lower rings and one roll of 24x60 for the door mouldings. That gave me plenty of extra incase of any mistakes. Only other tools needed are an exacto type knife with some replacement blades, a plastic squeegee tool, microfiber towel and a bottle of windex...and last but not least...patience and a steady hand.
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Looking good I have been wanting to do my chrome trim but have been holding off not sure how good a job I would do. I have bought all the gear but haven't made that last step.
Just cleaned the areas good with alcohol wipes and also used a hair dryer to soften the material and help achieve the curved areas in the front and rear corners. I applied the vinyl in my garage and out of the sun...did one side on one day and then pulled the truck out into the sun for a couple hours and went around and smoothed with a microfiber towel a few times. The following day I did the other side and while and repeated the process. While it was out in the sun I popped off the grill rings one at a time and did those back in the garage. Don't know if this is the proper way to do it but I was thinking the warmth of the sun would help activate the glue and give me good adhesion. Seems to have worked great and I washed the truck yesterday for the first time with no issues.
Thanks for the comments. As long as you have the patience..I say go for it. There's something about the satisfaction you get when you can stand back and look at your truck after working on it yourself and say...I did that.
As far as looks go..now I'm there loving every part of it. I have the DRL harness to install from another form member. Then comes the fun part. Maybe next weekend if all goes well. Bwoody comes off and Ripp supercharger system gets installed in my garage. Planning on a couple days for this mod though.
That looks awesome. I've been contemplating in doing this myself. Assuming you took off the chrome window trim to wrap them, what was your technique in removing them?
No removal of the trim was necessary only removed the grill rings to make it easier to wrap all the way around . Otherwise the window pieces you just wrap it and tuck it with a plastic squeegee applicator tool and then cut it very carefully with a sharp X-Acto knife along the rubber trim.
I really want to do this!! The window trim that is...
-How did you cut the vinyl to make sure you had the right angles?
-Did you cut strips the same width? little wider?
-Did you have the angles cut out or did you stretch it around the corner?
I cut strips of the vinyl about half inch longer on each side and half inch wider top and bottom. I think the thicker bottom chrome trim was roughly 2 inches wide and the top thinner trim just over an inch. Straight pieces are really easy to apply just pull the backing paper off apply to the chrome and just run your finger down the vinyl to smooth out any air bubbles. The back of the vinyl actually has little grooves cut into it so you are able to work any bubbles out to the edge. Using the plastic squeegee just work the material into the groove between the rubber and the chrome then carefully cut off excess with an exacto knife. In the front and rear corners where the trim bends you will see a seam in the moulding from the factory on the bottom edge. I measured from that seam to the back edge of the corner trim and used that measurement to put another seam on the upper part of the moulding. Basically you will cut a square for the corner. Heat it with a hair dryer to soften the material and work it into the corner. Trim excess and your good to go. Kinda hard to visualize but I can post a pic when I get home later today.
So I have had my truck for about 8 months. A few months ago I removed the Grand Cherokee door emblems and Jeep hood emblem. Bought an extra set of SRT emblems..plastidipped those and the Jeep logo on the rear brow. Love the blacked out look with a white truck especially with the black chrome spider monkey wheels. I couldn't commit to blacking out the grill rings and window mouldings but after months of checking out pics on this forum..I had to do it. I went to a local shop where I had my windows tinted when I first bought the truck and they wanted $600 to wrap the window mouldings, seven upper grill rings and two lower grill rings. I'm a DIY guy and like to work on my own truck so I know everything was done right so figured I'm gonna do it myself. I am very meticulous and took my good old time getting it just right and the outcome is awesome. I used 3M gloss black 1080 scotch print and materials cost me $65. All said and done I have about 6 hours into doing all the trim but think overall it has changed the look of the truck and made it even more badass. Anyone looking to tackle the project themselves I used...1 roll of 12x60 for the grill and lower rings and one roll of 24x60 for the door mouldings. That gave me plenty of extra incase of any mistakes. Only other tools needed are an exacto type knife with some replacement blades, a plastic squeegee tool, microfiber towel and a bottle of windex...and last but not least...patience and a steady hand.
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Look much cleaner. I have been wanting to do this since the day I got my GC. any more helpful tips and pointers to get this install done without scratching car or making major mistakes. Thanks
Not really. Just takes some patience. Leave your self a little overhang all the way around..tuck the material tight and clean to the edges and then very carefully cut long the moulding. Make a mistake it's not a big deal to heat the material and stretch it a little or even just pull it off and start with a new piece.
Very good string here - thanks for the details, and pics. :thumbsup:
I had the front all painted, but the window trim is tough. Only thing left to black out is the trim, and the more I look at other cars, the more this makes me wonder why Jeep didn't just make this black to start with...
I've been searching for someone/shpo to do this, but no shop in mid-Michigan wants to do it and a couple may, but for a steep price.
Considering only $50 in materials/tools - I guess I will tackle this next weekend.
Good luck with the install. Take your time and I'm sure you will be happy with the finished project. I can't agree more..this is the way they should have come from the factory.
Finally finished that project. Yep about 6 hours to do it. The mirrors are a b!txh but the rest not bad. A little touch up paint along some edges helped fixed a couple very minor x-acto slips.
After 3 shops refused to do the job. Did it myself. Thanks to the forum for the insight
Bottom line. This finally completes the mods.
Not the best pics as it was raining outside but no shine
Finally finished that project. Yep about 6 hours to do it. The mirrors are a b!txh but the rest not bad. A little touch up paint along some edges helped fixed a couple very minor x-acto slips.
After 3 shops refused to do the job. Did it myself. Thanks to the forum for the insight
Bottom line. This finally completes the mods.
Not the best pics as it was raining outside but no shine
Second on Amazon. Ikon (or akon) was the vendor. 5 ft x 2 ft was plenty. But cut your long pieces first.
I also got some gloss black paint to hide any minor cuts and used it just around the mirror. Probably didn't need it but hid a couple slips of the knife
Ikon seem pretty reputable, I'm in Australia and ordered 3M 1080 for a DIY roof job, arrived within two weeks. Now just need to find the time between renovating three bathrooms to get it done.