Why put cheap electrical type tape on my favorite truck for trim?

D Titan · 08-03-2004, 09:00 PM

I am new to this forum and enjoy the sharing and unity of my fellow titan friends. I have a problem with the trim between my window on driver side door and my window for king cab door. A blemish magically appeared within 500 miles of ownership and I tried everything to remove it including pressure washing at the car wash. The result was a hole and bubbling in the trim. Upon further inspection I realized that the trim was some kind of tape that was easy to peel off from inside the door. Underneath the tape is factory paint that matches exterior. The cheap tape might help keep the paint new because it covers a high traffic area (opening and closing doors) (protecting against fingerprints fingernails and keys). My question is should I take off the cheap tape on both sides and show off my paint which might look good, or replace tape with higher grade tape. I will try to attach pics, I am new so bear with me. Thanks.

GETSOMZ28 · 08-03-2004, 09:11 PM

I thought it was bug crap, so I started to scrape it off. Turns out it was the black tape that you show in your second picture.

Sammy Sandbag · 08-03-2004, 09:24 PM

It's more of a vinyl adhesive sheet. I suspect they added it more for aesthetic purposes than to protect the paint. It makes the window seperated by the B pillar flow in a continuous color/shape. If you are having problems with it and you like/don't mind the paint color showing there then I would just remove it. Otherwise, take it in and have it replaced.

Mike H. · 08-03-2004, 10:13 PM

I've wondered what they would look like with that removed. You could be the first......

D Titan · 08-03-2004, 10:25 PM

Thanks for the replies. I am seriously thinking about removing the tape. If I do I will post pics.

DallasTitan · 08-03-2004, 10:33 PM

The Nissan dealer told me that the purpose of the tape was the following:

"To prevent wearing out the paint at the place where the driver most uses to shut the truck door/reduce finger prints and scratches of paint."

seco · 08-04-2004, 07:44 AM

I recently peeled mine off. Seems to make my window tint look darker.

Sammy Sandbag · 08-04-2004, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seco

I recently peeled mine off. Seems to make my window tint look darker.

Got any pictures?

seco · 08-04-2004, 09:18 AM

Only if I can figure out how to post them!!!

seco · 08-06-2004, 06:55 AM

Pix as requested. See if this is any better.

Sammy Sandbag · 08-06-2004, 07:01 AM

Is it just me or can anybody click on those picts and get a popup? I'm not getting anything except for the small thumbnail on this page.

seco · 08-06-2004, 07:17 AM

Whoops! Must have posted them wrong. Will try again.

Dude · 08-06-2004, 07:55 AM

From what I can see, I like it better without the tape. The tape, being black is going to weather and look like crap in a couple of years anyway. I think I am going to remove mine too. I had thought about doing it earlier, but was afraid of what I might find underneath. Another valuable piece of info garnered from this site. Gotta love it. Thanks guys.

TitanRN · 08-06-2004, 08:08 AM

I had the same exact problem with the tape.. Except I wanted my fixed.. I didn't pay $35,000 for a truck to have a bubble on stupid tape... So I took it in.. OH MY LORD!!! If I had known it was such a headache I would have said forget it... It took them 3 times to get it right, each time they ended up with airbubbles in them... I understand that its a long difficult process to heat the stuff and pull it good enough that no bubbles get under it, but good grief

They finally sent it to the Pontiac place and they fixed it.. I guess they have vehicles with this tape stuff and knew how to fix it, go figure..

I sure would like to see those pics bigger...

Quad T · 08-06-2004, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D Titan

I have a problem with the trim between my window on driver side door and my window for king cab door. A blemish magically appeared within 500 miles of ownership and I tried everything to remove it including pressure washing at the car wash. The result was a hole and bubbling in the trim.

I'm not sure the pressure washing may have helped you out in this situation.

The application of black or colored vinyl is a standard automotive manufacturing process. It allows additional colors to be added without the problem of overspray or the time to mask and apply additional paints and clearcoats.

Here is another great example, I prefer the black window trim, and yet my friend removed his, same car, rather drastic differences in look. Just be prepared, you can not count on the paint being perfect behind that vinyl. Some are and some are not. During the manufacturing process people know that area will be covered up, therefore if the paint gets scratched nobody cares. Lots of the S2000 guys who have removed their windshield tape were saddened to find scratches.