tinting

[fossilrunner]

I want to get my windows tinted but every place I have gone to wants alot because of the two vent windows and I have a slidding glass rear window.They want $160.Does any one no of any place in the dwf area that will do it cheaper($100), or should I just do it myself

[fossilrunner]

i just bought my tint.I am doing a 2 1/2% on the back and a 20 % on the sides.the legal limit is 25 %. Is 5 % that big a diffrence.

[FirstGen]

I know a place that will do it for $60...

[shifty]

5% is not a big difference, but 2½% on the back window sounds illegal to me. Most places are 14-20% for the rear window and head strip with 20-25% for the side windows. Main reason is safety of the police officer that pulls you over. 2% is basically limo tint and you can't see through it. Good luck trying to use your rear view mirror. Anything darker than 6% is almost impossible to see through both directions IMPO.

Cops have light reading guns. All they do is roll down your window a little bit and clip the gun over the glass and it will tell them what percentage it is. They can do this during any routing traffic stop. I know in FL if they pull you over and your tint is too dark, they can ask you to remove it on-site AND write you a ticket to boot. I had this happen because a cop pulled me over and my tint was @ 18% instead of 20% on my side windows. I was PPIISSSSSEED off man.

[FirstGen]

In Texas, only the State Troopers carry the tint guage and sporatic wealthy small county cops. I know several cops that would have loved to write me a ticket but couldn't!

[Tx Firefighter]

In Texas, you can do anything to your windows behind the driver. You could spray paint them black if you wanted.

I run two layers of 5% limo tint on top of each other on my daily driver.

[shifty]

Damn! Wish I lived there.

Can you see out of your windows, Tex?

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by shifty

Can you see out of your windows, Tex?

No.

If someone is behind me, in the middle of the day, I can't see them in my rearview mirror unless they have their headlights on. Then, I can't tell what it is, just see two little hints of headlights.

I don't have the double tint on my side windows. That way I can see out and see in my side mirrors.

[shifty]

LOL. Man, I need to move back to DFW.

[longnlow72]

you can tint the back window as dark as you want, what are they gonna tell you canopys are illegal beacause they cover the window lol

[5150]

I've never heard of those gauges to tell the percentage of the tint. I guess we're too poor in TN to have those. I've never pulled anybody over for tint before. Hey, if they want it so dark they can't see fine by me. When they wreck because they can't see then I'll laugh at them. Best thing to to when you get stopped at NIGHT and have dark windows. To help the cop out turn out your headlights off and turn on your dome light. This way we can see inside the car.

I think we have cards here in TN that you put up against the window, but I've never used them. If I don't feel comfortable then I just get on the old PA and ask the driver to step back to me. Remember I'M GOING HOME NO MATTER WHAT!

[shifty]

Here is an example of a tint meter - they're really cheap when you consider it's paid for after writing two tickets.

http://www.chiefsupply.com/tint-meter.phtml

A picture:


Here is one that doesn't require being slid over the window (the top one is more common):
http://www.gardco.com/pocketdetective.html


Here is an example of a story I found on the internet from Missouri, just so you guys know I'm serious - this is the crap I dealt with living in Florida a lot:

Missouri Window Tint Laws, Rolla Police got me!

....

So after breakfast the meeting was moved back to 11am, instead of 9am. So I took Dozzle out for a spin in the Z, to show him what it was like. On our way out of town in Rolla, on 10th street, I got pulled over. I didn't know for what, I hadn't been speeding, but I Thought of three 2 things it may be for.

1. No front license plate
2. No muffler

WRONG! I got pulled over because the cop saw how dark my windows were! Too funny!

"I pulled you over because your windows look darker than the legal limit, do you know what that limit is?"
No officer, I don't.
"It's 35% maximum on the front windows, please roll your window up a bit so I can test them"
He slid a little light meter over the driver's side window, the output read 4%, which I assume means that only 4% of all light will go through the window tint, as upposed to the legal limit of allowing at least 35% of all light through.
"I bet those st louis cops don't care, but down here we and the highway patrol care. Can I have your license please, I'm going to take this back to the car and give you a warning."
He came back and told me hemarked me in the system as a warning and asked that I please get the tint reduced to 35%.
He was actually very cool about the whole incident, which I think goes to prove that if you are nice to an officer they can generally be nice back to you.

Here's to you officer! I don't know a name though, he didn't even give me a paper warning!

Story taken from :: http://www.solo2.org/blogs/christoc/...10/16/735.aspx

[Bill72BB]

This is the same problem I had ( With these old eye's ),if you wear sunglasses all the time it is tough to see behind because of the reflection off the flat rear window ,and like Tx said compounds the problem at night.

I took mine off after a couple of months.

Originally Posted by Tx Firefighter

No.

If someone is behind me, in the middle of the day, I can't see them in my rearview mirror unless they have their headlights on. Then, I can't tell what it is, just see two little hints of headlights.

I don't have the double tint on my side windows. That way I can see out and see in my side mirrors.

[woodchip]

I don't want any tint at all. I need all the ight I can get. What good is tint anyway.

[Tx Firefighter]

Originally Posted by woodchip

What good is tint anyway.

110 degree Texas heat would make you a believer. Besides, it keeps your interior from taking such a beating from the sun's UV rays.

[screamin_c102]

And it looks friggin cool too!!!

[camaro__thunder]

Double limo (5%) on all corners... but I got TX A/C so I'm not scared
Will post some newer pics ASAP

[shifty]

Originally Posted by woodchip

I don't want any tint at all. I need all the ight I can get. What good is tint anyway.

They make "clear" tints that will reflect nearly as much (if not just as much) heat and V as limo tint will.

Tint has three purposes:
1) blocking light
2) blocking UV rays that fade and crack interiors
3) blocking solar energy which heats up your cab


A lot of people confuse the #1 and #3 purposes. IIRC, $2 and #3 are the main source of cab heat, using a darker tint doesn't necessarily help to a great extent in reducing heat (I could be totally wrong, though). Visible light only carries so much heat - and actually, if you want to get technical, a black window is going to absorb heat and radiate it into the cab, so the darker the window gets, the more radiated heat you've got to worry about. So....I wouldn't get all tied up in the idea of going dark....

Just my 2c

[Tx Firefighter]

I also use it to keep prying eyes off of my stuff inside the truck.

[dalbers]

I got pulled over in my old 87 monte SS for the windows being too dark. The thing that made me mad was that my brake lights weren't working. He gave me a ticket for my windows but only a warning for no brake lights. Weird.

[Canadian72GMC]

Up here, the local law enforcement is getting tough on ANY tint that did not from the factory. The excuse they use, is the side and rear glass is tempered safety glass, and is supposed to shatter on impact. With a plastic film on it, it will not shatter and can be very dangerous. While all this is true, I don't think it is the real reason.

[shifty]

The line the local cops would always feed me is "it's a risk to my safety if I can't see in"

[5150]

I don't know how much of a risk it is to the driver's safety, but IT IS a risk to my safety.