tint

[ciaz]

Yesterday I examined the tint that came dealer-installed on my 4runner. To my surprise, all the windows aside from the driver and passenger aren't actually tinted at all. Toyota uses privacy glass on these rear windows. The dealer put some slightly lighter film (35% I'm guessing) on the fronts to make it pretty much match.

Anyway, I'm thinking about going with some darker tint and I'd like some opinions from members on this site. 5% looks awesome, but I'm guessing it's going to be too dark to be safe at night, and 20% seems too light. If I could find 10% for the fronts, what would I have to apply to all the rears to match?

What are you guys using? Anyone with 5% want to prove me wrong?

 

[jpowers]

Mine is 35% front, and stock on the rear. While I agree 5% looks great I wouldn't personally go darker then 20%. I had 5% on a Camaro for me it proved to be to dark. I had problems seeing out of it. My state doesn't allow for anything darker then 35% on the fronts, If I could I would have 20% on mine.

 

[EGILL]

I had 15% on my eclipse and I had a really hard time at night with it. Loved it during the day as I have pretty light sensity eyes but night time was a nightmare.

 

[nashman69g]

I was going to put 20% on when I get some time...and money! Tint is a personal preference. I like to have it dark enough to keep me cool but light enough to still see a figure. All my cars have had 20%. My wife's car has 40 or 50%. It is way too light for me. She likes it though.

 

[rsarrami]

I have Pinnacle tint film at 35% installed all around.

As a result there will be a diff between front and back. It is a better, little bit more money, film and has the highest VU and heat protection. The factory stock tint does not have as much uv and heat protection (in the back windows).

The 35% is legal in all States and Canada. 15% or below is not (as I understand it). With 35% you get protection from heat and uv with littel light reduction.

If I was to do it all over again, I would keep 35% in all back windows with 15%-20% in front.

 

[TTown]

I used 20% on the front and nothing on the back. I looks pretty even from front to back. It is dark enough to keep my car cool, yet it doesn't impede my vision at night. I would do it the same again. If you retint your windows, make sure you get the color of the tint very close to the factory shade. The guy who tinted my windows had just the right color to closely match the color of the factory tint.

 

[clemson4rnr]

35% I'm guessing

Don't quote me but I recall that my port installed tint sticker states that the tint on the FRONT windows is 42.5% in case anyone was wondering.

I also want to upgrade to 20% tint on the fronts. Anyone already do this and mind sharing the amount of $$$ that you had throw out?

 

[blkmagic5]

At first I had them match the front two windows to match the factory tint, but i thought that it was too light, so then I went and had 20% put on the front two windows as well as all of the rear windows too, with a tint strip across the windshield and it seems to be a nice medium between not too light and not too dark.

 

[adio3x]

My factory tint came up to be around 25%, wasn't exactly 35%. Just got my front 2 tinted yesterday, the best they could do was 20%. From the inside you can notice that the fronts are a tad darker then the backs, but from outside it looks like they match.

Now as for 5s, don't do it, driving at night will be a PITA! My buddy had 5% all the way around on his wrx and it was death driving his car at night. Big left turns were the scariest lol.

 

[TTown]

The 35% is legal in all States and Canada. 15% or below is not (as I understand it). With 35% you get protection from heat and uv with littel light reduction.

Each state is different. For example, California does not allow any tint on the front side windows.

 

[Froggy]

. . . California does not allow any tint on the front side windows.

A careful read of CVC Section 26708, a portion of which I've quoted, seems to indicate otherwise: . . . clear, colorless, and transparent material may be installed, affixed, or applied to the front side windows, located to the immediate left and right of the front seat if the following conditions are met:
(1) The material has a minimum visible light transmittance of 88 percent. . . .

 

[ciaz]

I used 20% on the front and nothing on the back. I looks pretty even from front to back. It is dark enough to keep my car cool, yet it doesn't impede my vision at night. I would do it the same again. If you retint your windows, make sure you get the color of the tint very close to the factory shade. The guy who tinted my windows had just the right color to closely match the color of the factory tint.

Your front definitely look darker. Did you have a windshield sunshade on during the time that photo was taken?

My factory tint came up to be around 25%, wasn't exactly 35%. Just got my front 2 tinted yesterday, the best they could do was 20%. From the inside you can notice that the fronts are a tad darker then the backs, but from outside it looks like they match.

Now as for 5s, don't do it, driving at night will be a PITA! My buddy had 5% all the way around on his wrx and it was death driving his car at night. Big left turns were the scariest lol.

So you're saying that the shades wont match with 20% in the fronts and no film in the rears?

 

[TTown]

A careful read of CVC Section 26708, a portion of which I've quoted, seems to indicate otherwise: . . . clear, colorless, and transparent material may be installed, affixed, or applied to the front side windows, located to the immediate left and right of the front seat if the following conditions are met:
(1) The material has a minimum visible light transmittance of 88 percent. . . .

Interesting wording. Define colorless in the court of law. There are many cars in California with the same or darker tint than mine. Bottom line if a cop wants to pull me over for tint, they could. I have several friends in law enforcement that have told me I could get a ticket if the officer that pulls me over wants to.

 

[TTown]

Your front definitely look darker. Did you have a windshield sunshade on during the time that photo was taken?

It is a closer match than the picture suggests. It is tough to get a good picture that accurately represents. Below is another that might help. In reality if you nit pick the difference you will see a small difference. When getting my tint, I wanted to get as close as possible. I went to several tint shops before going with this one to get as close in tint and shade as possible. I am very satisfied with the job they did. They even computer cut the film. By doing this they can bring the tint to the very edge of the window which makes it almost look tinted from the factory. Most people can't tell the difference.

<a href="http://s791.photobucket.com/albums/yy191/ttown311/?action=view&current=004.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i791.photobucket.com/albums/yy191/ttown311/004.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

 

[clemson4rnr]

If you dont mind me prying.... How much did they charge you?

 

[adio3x]

Your front definitely look darker. Did you have a windshield sunshade on during the time that photo was taken?



So you're saying that the shades wont match with 20% in the fronts and no film in the rears?

Mine doesn't match the rears. The tint shop didn't have the same color tint and mines a shade darker and a little greener.

 

[rsarrami]

The Pinnacle tint film definatly matches the color. But can speack for what % to use to match the back.

 

[TTown]

They charged me $50 for the two front windows.

 

[IceNomad]

Mine doesn't match the rears. The tint shop didn't have the same color tint and mines a shade darker and a little greener.

Sounds like a cheap quality tint. A quality tint (example: 3M) will keep its color and not appear green/red overtime like you see on some cars driving around.

 

[IceNomad]

Sounds like a cheap quality tint. A quality tint (example: 3M) will keep its color and not appear green/red overtime like you see on some cars driving around.

Here is my suggestion...Make an appointment with a tint shop after you price them out and have the guy/gal hold up the tints on the windows in light. Then you can decide which tint you want. Different products vary slightly, so use your own judgement, not just what people say on a forum.

I paid $65 for my fronts. I priced out a couple places, but ultimately went by my neighbors suggestion.