That’s A Wrap Folks!

By Mackenzie Mullett

Looking for a way to make your sled stand out from the rest, in a way that you love?  Than a wrap is the answer!  Not only do they look great, but they also offer protection from alders, crusty snow and similar things.  As well as they shed snow great!

If you think that it’s something that you have to get a professional to do than you’re wrong.  It is something that you can punch out in a good day, if you would like a great job done. There is no speciality tools required either, other than a plastic piece for pushing out bubbles and a felt squeegee, isopropyl alcohol and a hairdryer or a heat gun.

There are many different companies that make wraps, but i decided to go with ArcticFx.  They have wraps available for many different makes and models, as well as many different designs that you can choose and customize to your style.  Don’t see anything there that you like? No problem, they also do custom work, which is what I did with my Axys. They also have the option of only wrapping so much of your sled, just the hood as a example.  ArcticFx’s vinyl is super thick!  Coming in at a total of 17mm.  What makes them stand out from the rest is the glue they use and how it’s played out on the vinyl.  It’s in a cross hatched pattern which makes any stuck air super easy to push out.

The first thing to do is remove the old decals.  It’s best to warm the graphic up a little (this gets the glue a little more “workable”) and than peel them off, simple as that.  Once you have all the old graphics off, use the isopropyl alcohol and a rag to remove any of the glue residue from the plastics.  If your sled is dirty, its best to use your cleaner of choice to remove any dirt or oil from the plastics.

After the prep work is done, it’s time to install the new vinyl.  I found it best to start with the vinyl that will be seen the most so you can line up the surrounding graphics with this one.  So once you have that found, just place it on the sled, working from one side to the other, push the air out from beneath the vinyl using the felt squeegee as you go.  Take the next vinyl, line it up with the previous vinyl the best you can and do the same actions.  Once you have this down pat, you can do the full sled!

Once you have the full wrap on, if you have any air that you just can’t get out, you can warm the vinyl up and using a needle, make a pin hole where the bubble is and push all the air out where the hole is.  Also, its best to go over the full wrap with heat and make sure that all the vinyl has stuck the the plastic.  The heat warms up the glue and makes the vinyl a little more pliable so it can stick to curves better. 

My final thoughts:

-The stock vinyl that comes on a snowmobile is like night and day compared to ArcticFX’s vinyl.  It was super easy to install.

-Everything lined up perfectly

-The wrap is very thorough, it covered 99% of the snowmobile

-After one ride, its holding up very well.  A tree just popped up out of no where, and what i thought was going to be a nice wound, turned out to be nothing to worry about.  The wrap took it like a champ!