HiLux_1990

oh, in regards to how different places apply the tint...

Has anyone removed the glass from their truck to get it tinted?
especially door glass and that sort of thing.

snappy

Installation:
1. Put film on inside surface of the windows, without any kind of panel removal. The film is cut to the exact contour of all sides, except LONGER at the bottom. This extra length is tucked in below that rubber squeegy/weatherstrip on your door.

Using your defroster/heater vents and simply being in a warm environment help dry the tint -- they say 3-5 days on average.


2. Panel removal -- same as above, but with the panel out, a larger amount of film can be applied to the window. with this extra film the windows can be rolled up and down from day one.

3. Glass removal is not necessary, unless you're gonna replace it with smoked glass.

If you don't know about the details behind tint -- tint is basically a sticker. A nice big sticker. The tinter cuts out the appropriate size, then removes the backing and sticks this bad boy onto the inner surfaces of your car window. As anyone who has ever tried to position a sticker PERFECTLY will know, it sucks when you have to stick it on, then peel it off until you get it right. The cure for this is soapy water. One or two drops of dishsoap or baby shampoo into a spray bottle creates the cure. Tinters will soak the sticky side of the tint film, and spray soapy water on your windows. By doing this, the film will not adhere immediately -- allowing the tinter to align things. When everything is just kosher, you squeegy the water out from in between the film & the window. most of the water comes out, but the tint is not at its full adhesion until all the water is gone -- which explains the "curing" period.

Use this method anytime you need to place stickers on a surface - -glass or bodypanels. soap spray, position, squeegy, then wait. oh, no fingerprints either.

Get any film you like -- just go by the color...as long as the shop will stand behind it with a lifetime warranty against purpling and peeling/blistering. (I got a lifetime on the Limo tint, and the front windshield too

Last thing -- shops are WAY too anal about putting the tint on. My understanding of the law is that it is not illegal for them to APPLY the tint, it is illegal for YOU to DRIVE the vehicle if the tint exceeds the local specs

PM me if you're in Washington State, and need a referral in Seattle.

I'll put some pics up if I get around to washing the rig tomorrow...

snappy

testing..

snappy

dammit.

my weblinks don't work, so i'll just have to do it w/ attachments.

5% tint
clean rig
dirty rims

snappy

the web upload isn't working for me, so i'll post em the old fashioned way -- as attachments

5%
clean rig.
dirty rims.

snappy

Looking out of 5%

snappy

and broad daylight

snappy

Looking out of 35% windshield

snappy

and looking in.

snappy

Unless you want to peel that tint off..

This stuff is good, and safe for tinted windows (no ammonia)

DuB

WOAH, the windshield tinted too?? That's really dark!
Well, I think I have 35 on the front windows and 20 on all the rear. It's what my friend had on his range rover, and I liked how it looked, but he failed to let me know that his windows came clear from the factory, so my tint is too dark for me :pat: I don't like how I can't see out the back at night when I'm backing up. I get all disoriented. I guess it's ok though, since you can't see anything in the back seats or in the cargo area. You can still sort of see the people in the front seats, and I haven't been bugged by any police yet *knock on wood*

I got mine done at 5Star tint & stereo in torrance if you need a place that'll do whatever tint you want. They did a good job, too.

4FonZ

I just got my 2 front windows tinted, too =) 35% -- really looks fine to me, I did not want it too dark...

question -- are there supposed to be FINE little bubbles under the tint? There aren't any big bubbles or anything obvious from a distance, but if you look real close there are some small bubbles...

I'm wondering if these will get absorbed or evaporate over the next few days....

or if I should go back to the installer...

calrockx

well it should be perfectly smooth.

i just got my front windows tinted 15% and the said it'll look a little hazy at first and give it 3 days to dry and a week to look how it should. so i guess give em some time, and if there's still bubbles after a week, get it fixed.

Bob_98SR5

Calrockx,

Yes, it will be milky and crappy looking for 48-72 hours and you will probably seen tiny air bubbles that have formed around microscopic dust.

Give it 1 week b/f you take it back. By that time, the CA heat/sun will have fixed 99.5% of those tiny air bubbles.

Bob

calrockx

okay, now i have a question. i got 15% on the front windows yesterday, but now they look a little darker than that back ones. is there some chance that they lighten up or something as they dry? i'm guessing not, but i just wish the front windows would match the back, or if anything error on the lighter side.

Bob_98SR5

Hi folks,

Reviving and contributing to an old thread (the way you're supposed to )

I got my windows tinted today. Seeing that there was quite a bit of debate regarding the *exact* percentage to match stock 3rd gen windows(15% vs 20%), I chose something in between by default.

I got 18% and from the outside, it matched *very* close to stock. however from the inside, it looks a tad bit darker. And i mean a tad. Therefore, my conclusion is that 20% is the magic number. I'm happy with what i got, but just passing on some useful info.

...and I should have done this a long time ago. it makes driving much more pleasant in sunny CA due to less strain on the eyes from the sun/glare.

Bob

Fink

The tint place around here has a machine they drive your rig up to and it shoots a laser through the windows and comes out with a precentage down to 2 decimal places so you can get it matched exactly!

It took my windows 2 weeks to really dry up and get to the color I wanted...I've got 5% all the way around, cops here really don't care. The law here is, they can't JUST pull you over for your windows...so if I ever get pulled over, I'm not saying it happens a lot, but if I do indeed, I just roll my windows down. If it happened to be 10 degrees outside, not sure what I would do then...maybe try and dazzle the officer with my pretty smile

Fink

msw0085

^^ I had a similar experience with mine. I had the fronts done with 15% "factory lexus tint" idk if that just means its the stuff they buy to use or what, but it came from a dealership. The outside looked near identical, you could only tell a difference in the light transference if you looked at it from different angles. From the inside, however, it looked MUCH darker. In fact, for about 3 days I kept thinking I had left my rear windows down or something becuase it was so much lighter back there. I eventually got limo on the rear doors, cargo area, and hatch. When I get this new truck, Ill do limo all around. And yes the limo on the rear hatch makes it hard to back out of driveways at nite.

Fink

Thats why the power rear window is my favorite feature and the auxillary backup lights are my favorite mod!

Fink

trdhonma

There is a new tint that looks like 15% but is legally 35% and it looks great on my gen 3 4runner. And I have no problem with police or safety checks.