Clear Coat Failure on Roof -- Vinyl Wrap?

I have a 2014 4Runner in blue, and the clear coat on the roof is badly blistered. I guess once the clear coat goes, the paint is next, and then rust. Short of having the entire roof repainted, I was wondering if a black vinyl wrap would be a good way to protect the top of the vehicle? I am about to put on a new roof rack, so now would be the time to do this.

My vehicle sits in the sun in the driveway, so I suppose this explains the failure after 7 years. This is probably not that unusual?

On the other hand, the hood which sees the same sun has no such blistering. Why is that?

 

I don't have an answer for you but I wonder if adding PPF would slow the process of clear coat fading down.. hmmmm...

 

My 2007 FJ had the opposite. Flaking hood, roof was fine

 

Just remember wraps can fail too. And the longer it stays up there the worst it can get. Maybe 3 years max.

 

Just suck it up and get it repainted. I just had the roof of my 2006 Tacoma repainted for clear coat failure. Some people sand and paint their own roof because it doesn't have to be perfect.

 

"Just remember wraps can fail too. And the longer it stays up there the worst it can get. Maybe 3 years max."

Not my experience. I own a fleet of five service vehicles plus my 4Runner. All wrapped. Never an issue except from stone chips, but the wrap in general holds up well 'till we sell 'em 4-5 years down the road.

 

That’s good to know since my trucks wrapped. Im basing off previous experience on my Tacoma the roof wrap became extremely brittle and was a pure nightmare to remove after about 3 1/2 years. That’s from sitting out in the sun year round and having a roof rack over it.

 

The clear coat on my roof was looking rough so I sanded it off, shot it with white Raptor liner and a couple coats of clear then put on my roof rack. You can’t really see the white.
Just another option to consider. The main reasons I did it: 1. Raptor liner is significantly cheaper than paint 2. No need for a lot of maintenance under the roof rack. 3. I think the white will help keep it cooler inside - I am a inside the truck sleeper when I camp. ✌️

 

I really like this idea. I am not so familiar with Raptor liner, but it looks like this is not a difficult DIY operation. I don't know about the white in my case, though. It does make sense, but my rack is 3/4 in length, so the white will be more visible.

 

I painted my whole 99 Tacoma with it. It came out nice. It is easy to do. If you decide to do so, PM me or start a thread so we aren’t hijacking this one and I can give you some solid lessons learned that will help yoirs turn out right the first time. ✌️

 

I bought a used Leer bed cap for my truck that was a different color paint than the truck and sprayed it with black Raptor Liner. It came out really nice and is holding up well.

I like it so much that I also sprayed the rock sliders on my 4Runner with it. It’s really tough stuff.

I sprayed both with Raptor Liner’s Pro spray gun using my own small compressor and got professional looking results. Not sure how it would look using their rattle can version but you can’t see the top of the roof so maybe not a serious concern.

if I had failing clear coat on my 4Runner’s roof, I would strongly consider using Raptor Liner since I’ve had good results on other projects…

Cheers,
Bob

 

I remember getting my Grand Cherokee SRT unwrapped. The wrapper swore like a lumberjack, claimed that the brand of wrap initially installed had been a real bear to remove, coming apart in pieces as you mentioned

 

Another benefit of spraying Raptor liner is it's much more forgiving than paint. I mean you don't have to be perfect. Kinda like a popcorn ceiling. You can't see the imperfections, if there are any.

 

Yes please, I am thinking I will go this route. I would like to know more about your experience and what you learned.

 

My 2007 FJ had the opposite.
Nox Vidmate VLC

 

Ditto here. Roof was fine, hood was a mess.

 

The clear coat was completely gone from my 2007 FJ by three years and the paint was starting to dust off.

That was my first experience with Toyota paint “warranty.”

 

some of the newer, pricier ceramic applications provide excellent UV protection for 3-5 years. if I was parking mine outside in the sun I would definitely go that route.

 

I tried to get my roof and hood wrapped because of clear coat failure, but the wrap shop wouldn't do it. They told me the vinyl wouldn't stick it properly.

 

Would've looked like shit even if it did stick. Wrap doesn't hide imperfections. If you sand off/properly clean the surface, a wrap will do fine

 

I would just paint it, especially if you ever plan to sell it, raptor liner will drop the value. Also my concern would be the raptor liner getting micro cracks and allowing moisture and rust.

I see you're in socal, there's a shop in chino I recommend, raising star collision they did my tacoma roof for 650 with lifetime warranty