How Much Does it Cost to Wrap a Truck? [Professionally vs DIY]

Your truck probably has some scratches and dings. It’s pretty rare to see a vehicle without any, especially if you travel a lot. Gravel roads in particular can be pretty brutal on your paint job, but painting your car is expensive. Sometimes, wrapping your truck can be a `more affordable cost, especially if you want it to double as advertising.

Depending on the amount of area you need wrapped, a truck wrap can cost a variety of prices. If you’re only looking for a partial wrap you may spend as little as $1,000. A full-coverage wrap will cost between $1,500 to $6,000. If you’re skilled at manual labor, you can probably wrap your truck yourself for under $2,000.

There are a few ways to get your truck wrapped, so we’ll walk you through the various options. Keep reading for the average prices and information for each:

Types of Truck Wraps

Truck wraps give you a great deal of flexibility when redesigning your truck. If you’re just looking to target a specific area or revamp the entire vehicle, wrapping can accomplish the task. Not only that, but wrapping can be solid-colored or printed with more accessible options for advertising than your typical vehicle’s paint job.

Professional

Professional truck wraps are certainly the easiest way to go and aren’t that much more expensive than doing it yourself. When you’re wrapping a truck, the price depends on the size of the truck and the amount of vinyl coverage.

Partial wraps are the cheapest option available. Commonly, partial wraps will wrap the bumper or hood. Additionally, if you’re looking for advertising, some partial wraps will create a localized design on your car to showcase your business. These partial wraps will cost around $1,000 on average. Clearly, this number will fluctuate and decals will be a good deal less.

If you’re looking for more coverage, full wraps are available on all types of vehicles. Full wrap prices vary on the size of the vehicle. For a smaller truck, you’re probably looking at around $1,500. A larger truck might cost a little more, maybe $2,000 or $3,000. However, for both sizes of vehicles, the price can increase up to $6,000 if you want more detail or even multiple layers. Finally, if you drive a semi-truck, wrapping your vehicle will be around $4,000 to cover the increased area.

DIY

Vehicle wraps are able to be done DIY, but it isn’t widely recommended. The work can take some practice. And any mistakes are pretty serious. When you make a mistake while putting on vinyl, you basically have to start over. You also typically need another set of hands to help, so you’d have to enlist a good friend. While wrapping your truck DIY saves you the labor costs, you still have to purchase the tools and material. Below are some of the common tools you’ll need to start:

• An Undamaged Paint Job
• Grease and Wax Remover
• General Cleaner
• Isopropyl Alcohol
• Measuring Tape
• Lint-Free Rags
• Squeegee
• Utility Knife
• Cutting Tape
• Heat Gun
• Infrared Thermometer
• Safety Glasses
• Cotton Wrap Gloves

Finally, you’ll need the vinyl itself. Typically, vinyl costs around $10 per square foot. A smaller truck needs about 80 feet of vinyl while a larger truck can need up to 100 feet of vinyl. That means the vinyl alone could cost you $800 to $1,000. Once you have acquired these materials, you’ll then have to wrap the car yourself. With the cost of the materials, you are looking at a typical price of $1,000 to $2,000.

Other Information

Cost isn’t the only factor in deciding how to update your vehicle. Even if wrapping your truck is cheaper, it might not be worth it if it won’t last as long as you need. Painting and wrapping both have their pros and cons so be sure to read on to find the best option for you:

How Long Do Vehicle Wraps Last Compare to Paint?

Vehicle wraps are going to be more durable on average than your typical paint job. Both materials are affected by the environment and can be damaged by outside influences, but wraps tend to be less vulnerable to these factors than paint.

Wraps need to be replaced every few years, up to 10 years. Paint will fade around this same rate, but wraps don’t tear as often as the paint will chip or scratch. Wraps also serve as a sort of protective layer to the paint. If the wrap is damaged, you will be able to peel the wrap to uncover the primarily unchanged paint underneath.

Even though wraps are designed to not damage the paint underneath, occasionally they will peel off with some paint, damaging the appearance of your vehicle.

How Do the Costs of Vehicle Wraps Compare to Paint?

It can be hard to compare the costs of wrapping versus painting a vehicle. The prices of both can vary on many different factors.

As we’ve established, wrapping will cost somewhere between $1,000 and $6,000. Painting tends to cost around $1,000 to $5,000. This means that vehicle wraps can be cheaper, but they aren’t always.

Is There Any Upkeep Required for Wrapped Vehicles?

There is not any special upkeep required for wrapped vehicles. Obviously, your vehicle will occasionally be sullied and need a wash. Wrapped vehicles can be washed just the same as painted vehicles.

For both, hand washing is the best practice to avoid the rough treatment of car wash brushes and harsh chemicals. However, going through a car wash should not damage your wrapped truck anymore than a painted one.

How Long Does it Take to Wrap a Truck?

With enough hands, your truck might be able to be fully wrapped in under 10 hours. More commonly, it will often take two or three days in order to fully wrap a vehicle.

If you decide to wrap the vehicle yourself, you can probably expect the process to take up to a week. Learning the entire process by yourself will add a significant amount of time to your time frame. There is also a 24-hour curing period needed to make your vehicle ready for rain or shine.

Is it Easy to Take off the Vinyl?

Yes, it is fairly easy to remove the vinyl off of a vehicle. The material is designed to peel off the car, so you should be able to use your fingernail or a plastic razor blade to make an area of the vinyl able to be peeled.

This is one step where you do have to be careful to not damage the paint job underneath. Sometimes using a heat gun will help the vinyl peel off easier.

Generally, there will still be vinyl residue left on the paint after all the vinyl has been removed. If this happens to you, don’t worry. There are plenty of residue removers on the market that will help you remove this unwanted feature.

Conclusion

Sometimes an environment update is the best thing to help keep you moving forward happily. Whether you’re looking for an aesthetic change, easy advertising, or simply a refresh to your truck, wrapping might be the way to go. The prices will vary, but with a little bit of research, the differences will become much less overwhelming.

If you decide on a partial wrap, you can expect to spend around $1,000. For more coverage, you’ll need to dedicate $1,500 to $6,000 for the process. If you decide to get your hands dirty and do it yourself, you should only be out less than $2,000.

Hopefully all the turned heads your new truck design inspires are from awe rather than horror!