How Much Does It Cost to Wrap a Truck?

If you want to stand out in a crowd of boring trucks, your humdrum factory paint job might not be enough to make a lasting impression. For you, a quality vehicle wrap might be a great option.

Of course, vehicle wraps aren’t just for enthusiasts who like to stand out. They can also be useful for advertising your business.

Truck wraps can be used in full or partial form. A full wrap covers the entire painted body of the truck. A partial wrap is usually used on the rear panels and/or the tailgate. Partial wraps are more likely to be used for advertisements than full wraps.

 

 

The cost of a full wrap can vary depending on the quality, intricacies and originality. You can compare it to a tattoo for your truck, the more detail and time to produce, the greater the amount you will have to pay.

Why Get a Truck Wrap?

Unlike paint jobs, a truck wrap doesn’t require any significant downtime for the job to be completed. The cost is also less at around $2,500 to $5,000 for a full wrap. A high-quality paint job usually costs between $5,000 and $15,000.

For personal trucks, a wrap allows you to stand out with a unique design. Truck wraps are durable and do a good job of protecting your paint from scratches and fading.

For commercial trucks, vinyl wraps look sharp and stand out. The bold designs draw attention to your company better than a simple sign or decal. Truck wraps for commercial trucks also protect your paint and can withstand harsh weather conditions.

If you have a fleet of trucks that all come in the same color, i.e. white, truck wraps are a cost-effective way to add some color and customization.

 

 

Cost of Full Vinyl Truck Wraps

Several factors affect how much a full truck wrap costs. The cost depends on the size of your truck, the quality of the wrap, whether you do it yourself or have a company do it, and how complex the design of the wrap is.

If you have a vehicle wrap company design, print, and install your wrap, the cost might be more if you want something more customized versus a generic template.

How Truck Size Impacts Cost

Size is a big factor in determining the cost of vinyl truck wraps. The bigger the truck, the more material is needed to cover it. The increased material costs more. However, you might not notice a huge difference unless you compare a commercial truck to a passenger truck.

For example, the average professional wrap job on a Ford F-150 is about $2,500. For a slightly smaller truck like the Nissan Frontier, the average price is closer to $2,000.

 

How Finish and Complexity Impact Cost

There’s more to truck wraps than simple pieces of vinyl. Some wraps have glossy finishes, some have matte finishes, and some have multiple layers as well. A glossy finish is typically more expensive than a matte finish and the more layers you have, the more the price will go up.

There are also different levels of quality for vinyl. Higher-quality vinyl will cost more. The other wildcard is whether you use a generic wrap or have one custom-designed. The latter will almost always cost more.

DIY Basic Full Wrap Cost

If you decide to go the DIY route, the cost to wrap your truck will depend on the size of your truck, the type of vinyl wrap you want, and where you buy it. The average price of basic vinyl wrap is around $10 per square foot.

A smaller truck requires about 80 feet of vinyl, while a larger truck might use as much as 100 feet of vinyl.

You’ll also need a wrapping tool kit, and those can cost as little as $35 at Amazon to over $100 if you get it from a brand-name retailer that sells vinyl. If you decide to do multiple layers of wrap, you’ll need more vinyl than the base amounts listed above.

Depending on the retailer where you buy your wrap, you could end up paying as little as $500 to around $3,000 for enough vinyl to wrap your truck. The average price is usually between $1,000 to $2,000.

Generic Professional Full Wrap Cost

Similar factors play into how much it costs to get a professional wrap. The main additional cost will be labor. This means that the starting cost will be higher for a professionally applied wrap.

You’ll likely be looking at a cost between $1,500 and $4,000 for a professional wrap job done locally with a design that’s already available from the company. This can still vary depending on the type of wrap you choose. For example, chrome and color shift wraps are on the higher end of the price spectrum.

Custom Professional Full Wrap Cost

The cost for a custom wrap will typically start at a similar price to the generic one, but then the cost will be added for the customization aspects. This is highly dependent on the company doing the wrapping.

For example, if a generic wrap job costs $1,500 at a particular company, but you want something fully customized, you could be adding between $500 and $1,000 to the cost. It depends on the material as well. As mentioned above, chrome and color shift wraps are the most expensive.

 

Show Truck Wrap Cost

A professionally applied wrap with the highest quality vinyl in a custom design will probably cost in the range of $6,000 to $10,000 and potentially even more depending on the company and the size of your truck. The complexity of the design and quality of the wrap contributes to the cost.

DIY Application Tips

If you’re thinking about wrapping your truck at home, you’ll need a few tools, including a squeegee, heat gun, tape, tweezers, blade, gloves, and an infrared thermometer. It’s also important to have a clean, covered area to work in, and you might consider a few helping hands as well.

Instead of buying the tools separately, there are plenty of installation kits available on places like Amazon that will give you everything you need to get started. It’s worth noting that it’s not particularly easy to do a full wrap on a vehicle at home. Any mistakes you make are fairly serious and will usually force you to start over.

The following is a general step-by-step guide:

1. Measure the dimensions of your vehicle section by section. Leave about three inches extra on all sides.

2. Clean and prepare the vehicle by making sure it’s free of lint, dust, and residue. Use a degreaser, then a cleaning solution, and wipe clean with a lint-free cloth.

3. Cut the vinyl sheets to size based on the section measurements you took before. Label each part with a dry-erase marker.

4. Apply the vinyl. This step is easier with two pairs of hands. When the backing is removed, the adhesive is immediately sticky, but it won’t attach to your truck until you apply pressure.

Take time to get the right position, then begin applying pressure in the center and work out to the edges. Use the soft squeegee end to push out trapped air. After one swipe of the squeegee, swipe to overlap the first one to ensure all the air gets out.

5. In difficult areas, you can use a heat gun to make the vinyl more pliable and easy to stretch. You can then shape it around curves and corners and use the hard squeegee side to cram it into cracks and crannies.

Just like truck wraps are made to protect your paint, a truck bed liner from DualLiner is designed to protect your bed from dings, dents, and moisture. Truck bed liners are a must-have for any truck and the bed liner system from DualLiner is the most comprehensive and unique bed liner on the market.