Removing vinyl decals?

[Jimmy9190]

My truck has a vinyl Dakota Sport" decal on each door. I want to remove the "Sport" part of the decal and leave the Dakota logo. The decals have been on it for almost ten years now. Question is, when I remove the lettering will it leave its shadow behind in the form of non-faded paint? I have heard this referred to as "ghosting". If it does happen or if anyone here has removed old decals, how do you get rid of the shadows, or will it fade out too after a few days in the sun?

I appreciate the help.

 

[duaneb9729]

it will have a minor shadow on it that will fade rather quickly, i have removed our company logos from our trucks. Some were on as long as ten years, most had shadowing, but it faded quickly.

if i had to guess i would say inside of two to three months

 

[Audi Junkie]

If you want it off, take it off. The shadow is not much of an issue.

Just hit it with some decent polish.

 

[Jimmy9190]

Well I just finished it a few minutes ago. I used a hair dryer and peeled the letters off in chunks and pieces. Then I used WD40 and laquer thinner on a shop rag to remove the glue. After that I hit it with a good coat of Meguiar's Scratch-X then a final wax with Meguiar's Gold Class wax.

I ended up removing both the Dakota and the Sport decals because the word Dakota is not in the same spots on the left and right doors and it would have looked really bad to leave it that way. There is no shadowing or ghosting and the whole job was surprisingly easy. Took less than an hour and the truck looks really clean without the side decals.

Thanks for the help.