Well I was running around today and stopped in NAPA. They had the 3m adhesive/stripe remover wheel. 40 stinkin bucks for it, I bought it anyway. I have never used one before. I will use my DeWalt 18v xrp drill for it, it has 3 speeds on the drill, 450, 1500 and 2000 rpm. The instructions recommend not to exceed 2500. I want to do the tailgate, and perhaps the doors but I'm not sure yet. The doors just have ram 3500, but the tailgate has Dodge, heavy duty, 4x4 and slt, way too much crap and it clutters it IMO. What's the best speed I should use once I've got the letters off? Any other tips for using it? I'd sure hate to waste a 40 dollar wheel by screwing up from the get-go.

 

also try 3m adhesive remover in an aerosol it worked great for me...

 

I've got all kinds of other solvents that I can use, I just want to make sure I use the wheel right..

 

I just did this last week and have a few lessons learned:

1) When cutting off the big badges on the door (with fishing line) the "RAM" portion and the square with "3500 Heavy Duty" are separate pieces. Remove "RAM" first and it makes it much easier to get the big square off. The small "Blutech Diesel" badge on the tailgate was the hardest to remove. It was thinner than the rest and I ended up using a plastic putty knife to bend up an edge then ripped it off of the truck with a pair of pliers.

2) Using the wheel is very easy. I used a Craftsman 19.2 volt variable speed cordless and the wheel worked flawlessly. It works best to move from right to left across the material. Also, heating up the tape or even just letting it sit for 20-30 minutes after cutting off the badges makes the wheel work easier. Faster RPM seemed to work better but I would try the 1500 first and then 2000 if that is going too slow for you.

3) I used 30 lb fishing line and it still broke quite often. I would recommend braided line. Also, keep your hands as close to the truck surface as possible when "sawing" to keep the edges of the badges from cutting your line.

4) After the wheel work I used some polishing compound/scratch remover on the area although this was probably not necessary. I used it to get any small remnants of glue off.

My truck is only about 6 months old and is silver so I didn't have any problems with fading, shadowing, etc. If your truck is older and/or darker and this is an issue you may need to do some additional waxing, etc.

Good luck, it is a piece of cake and really does make the truck look better IMHO.

 

i ended up using a drill... put the wheel in the end and did it that way. it took the adhesive off and everything but ended up scuffing the clear coat up a bit. plus you could still see the outline of the badges. im planning on buffing her soon when the weather breaks to get rid of the scuffs.

 

Thanks Evil, good stuff. Mine is an 03 so I had don't have to worry about the big license plate on the fenders. I started my old 03 and almost had the entire tailgate done but it was later totaled in an accident. I did use fishing line to get them off, broke it a few times too but I was also trying to keep it away from the badge edges like you mentioned but I guess stress just took it's toll. On the last one I used some meguiar's paint cleaner and various other solvents and it worked well. It was the graphite metallic grey, on the darker side but I was unable to see any outline or any signs they were ever there. This truck is patriot blue though. I guess I'll head out and tackle it after a little bit and post back with my results. Now I just gotta find some fishing line.

 

I also used the 3M wheel to debadge my 06 which is black. The wheel worked great, I used and electric drill and would guess that I was aroud 1800 rpms give or take. The fast you spin the wheel the better it works, but also starts to heat up the clear. I then used some solvent to wipe the residue away. Then is the time it got rough because of the color. Being black, you could more of a haze in the area that the wheel had passed, not really the outline of the lettering. It was like micro marring. I had to pull out the porter cable polisher and some polish to buff it out, then followed that with some wax. This may not apply depending on color though, I have talked to many with lighter colors that did not have these problems, of course black shows every little mark. When I was done, it looked like new, could never tell anything was there. Good Luck, should be smooth for you.

FR

 

It's ridiculous how well that adhesive sticks. It's borderline unnecessary.

I haven't even touched it yet because I can't find my garage door opener. I live in an apartment and it's detached. They can't get me in because I cut the cable inside that pulls the release because I walked into it twice and cut my face open on it. With the door closed the one little bulb in there was too dim, and I just didn't see it. So I cut it and after I haven't reattached it. So I don't know if my opener is sitting in on my bench, or if I misplaced it elsewhere.......GRRR!!

 

Well I managed to get it done yesterday, the tailgate is clean, aside from a Cummins Diesel Power badge on the back that I left on it. I might take it off anyway, cuz I inadvertently hit it a couple times with the wheel and it damaged the CDP badge just a bit on the top edge. I need to clean the tailgate real well and see how it looks, if I need to buff it or not. So far it looks excellent, nothing visible that they were ever there. Still debating on doing the doors. If anyone needs lettering for a tailgate, I now have 2 sets of "Dodge" "Heavy Duty" (the kind where it's all once piece) "4x4" and "SLT"......I also have a set of "Ram 2500" from both doors of my last truck.