GMC Savana & Chevy Express Van Wrap Cost in Chicago:
Install Specs & Design Guide 2026

The G-Van’s Design Advantage: Flat Panels

Most modern cargo vans have complex body contours: character lines, wheel arch intrusions, door seam indentations, and ribbed panel sections designed for aerodynamics and structural rigidity. Each of these features creates a vinyl installation challenge — the film must be stretched, heated, and formed over the contour, creating potential stress points at the edges of each feature.

The GMT600 G-van body was designed in an era before aerodynamic optimization dominated cargo van design. The result is a near-vertical, largely feature-free side panel surface that accepts vinyl wraps with minimal forming and stress. CFW’s G-van installs produce consistently flat, distortion-free graphic surfaces that display printed designs with higher fidelity than more contoured modern vans.

“G-vans are my favorite body to wrap. The side panel is just flat. No character lines, no sculpted wheel arches cutting into the graphics, no drama. You lay the vinyl on, it sits flat, you squeegee it out, and you have a perfect surface. The design looks exactly like the proof.”

— Roy Wraps, Founder, Chicago Fleet Wraps

Fleet Implications: G-Van Replacement Strategy

With the G-van discontinued after 2024, fleet operators running G-van fleets face a long-term replacement decision. CFW recommends wrapping all active G-vans in current fleet service immediately — the vehicles are already paid for, wraps protect the paint for eventual resale, and the wrap investment remains generally deductible as a business advertising expense regardless of the vehicle’s age.

For fleet operators transitioning from G-vans to Transit or ProMaster platforms, CFW offers fleet account continuity: production file delivery means all graphic design assets are available for immediate application to new vehicle platforms without redesign cost.

What a G-Van Wrap Looks Like on the Shop Floor

Every Express or Savana starts with a walk around at our Portage Park shop, 4711 N Lamon Ave #7. We note which side door the van carries, hinged or sliding, because the seam pattern on the curb side changes how the panels get split. We check the rear barn doors, the drip rail along the roof edge, and whether the van still wears body side molding. Molding comes off before film goes on and goes back after, or stays off for good if the owner prefers the flatter look.

Prep decides how a G-van wrap ages. The van gets washed, then every panel that will carry film is degreased and wiped down with isopropyl alcohol. Badges, marker lamps and handles come off wherever graphics cross them. Work vans arrive with ladder rack feet, shelf brackets and old cut lettering, and that adhesive residue has to come off completely, because MPI 1105 telegraphs anything left under it. Rust at the rocker or around the rear door hinges gets flagged before we print, not after. Film does not fix bad metal, and it lifts wherever the paint under it is already failing.

Panels print in-house on HP Latex, then go on in order: driver side, curb side, doors, hood, rear. The bottom edge is referenced off the rocker line so the graphic runs level down the whole length of the body. Door jambs get wrapped in at the openings, so an open door shows color instead of factory white. Because the G-van side is flat there is almost no heat forming involved. Lay it, squeegee it, trim it, post heat the edges, done. The 155 inch extended body takes more material down each side, but the sequence does not change.

Printed panels get 3M 8518 gloss overlaminate over them. That layer takes the road salt, the brine spray and the car wash, not the print. Lower panels and the rear doors see the worst of a Chicago winter, so we keep cut edges up off the very bottom of the rocker where plow spray would find them.

A single van is a one to two day job once the proof is signed off. In winter the van has to sit at shop temperature overnight before film touches it, so a January booking runs a day longer than a July one. The install carries a 2 year workmanship warranty and the film carries a 5 year material warranty. On the street, plan on 5 to 7 years of service life in Chicago conditions.

Fleet Pricing on a G-Van Fleet

One Express or Savana full wrap is $4,200, and that number is the same across the 1500, 2500 and 3500, standard or extended wheelbase. Volume pricing begins at two vans on one contract: 3% off for 2 to 4 vans, 7% for 5 to 9 vans, 11% for 10 to 24 vans, and 15% for 25 or more vans. On a $4,200 van that works out to $4,074 each in the first tier, $3,906 at five vans, $3,738 at ten vans, and $3,570 at twenty five vans. Design time, the printed cast film and the installation sit inside those figures.

We schedule fleet work in waves so the business keeps running. Two or three vans come in, get wrapped, and go back out before the next group arrives. Pickup and return are free across Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, Will and McHenry counties, which matters when a van earns money every day it is on the road. Print files stay on record, so a van added to the fleet next year gets the same layout without another design round.

Five Ways a G-Van Wrap Gets Designed Badly

• Lettering sized for a car. The G-van side is tall and flat, so set the phone number and the one service line at a size a driver two lanes over can read, not the size that fits a sedan door.
• Artwork pushed down into the rocker. A cut edge low on the body is the first thing Chicago salt finds in February.
• Print film over passenger glass. A window van needs perforated film on the glass so the driver keeps the mirror check and the side view.
• Wrapping around a ladder rack. Cutting film around rack feet leaves edges and resealing work. Pulling the rack and refitting it afterward is cleaner and faster.
• A partial wrap across mismatched paint. Two Express vans bought years apart often wear different whites. A full wrap covers that. A partial that leaves paint showing puts the difference side by side.

Any of the five is cheap to fix on a proof and expensive to fix on a van. Our two designers lay the artwork onto a measured G-van template before anything prints, and you see both sides and the rear on the proof before we cut material.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does it cost to wrap a Chevy Express or GMC Savana?

A Chevy Express or GMC Savana full wrap at CFW costs $4,200. The 1500, 2500 and 3500, standard or extended wheelbase, are all priced the same. Design, the printed cast film and the install are all inside that price.

Are the Chevy Express and GMC Savana the same to wrap?

Yes. The Chevy Express (G-van) and GMC Savana are mechanically identical — they share the same GMT600 body platform. All wrap specifications, pricing, and installation procedures are identical between the two nameplates.

Why is the G-van popular for fleet wraps?

The Chevy Express/GMC Savana has one of the flattest, most uninterrupted side panel surfaces of any cargo van. The near-vertical, feature-line-free side panels produce exceptionally clean wrap results with minimal graphic distortion. For fleet operators who want maximum design surface, the G-van body is the best canvas of any cargo van.

Is the Chevy Express still made?

No. The Chevy Express and GMC Savana (G-van platform) were discontinued after the 2024 model year. However, there are hundreds of thousands of G-vans in active commercial fleet service across Chicago and Chicagoland. CFW wraps existing G-van fleets and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

How long does a Chevy Express wrap last?

Plan on 5 to 7 years of service life from a G-van wrap printed on Avery Dennison MPI 1105 cast film and laminated with 3M 8518. Flat panels help, because no film is sitting stretched and under tension at a character line, which is where edge lifting usually starts on a more sculpted body. Washing habits and where the van parks overnight move the number more than the body shape does.