What's new
CK5
Register an account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members.

school me on window tint

K

K5dreamer

1/2 ton status
Joined
Mar 14, 2005
Posts
3,081
Reaction score
2
Location
Alexandria, Va
so the jetta is black on black, im a tree hugger so i try to use the AC as little as possible, but dangit its been hot lately. Im not sure what it is about the design of the mark IV jetta, but it seems abnormally adept at turning sunlight into oven like temperatures. Seriously, ive never had a car with AC before, and its never been a problem... but this car gets friggin toasty even in partial sunlight.

So im looking to get the windows tinted, but dont know anything bout it. what should i expect to pay, what tint is best, spray vs film (i dont even know if there is spray on), black vs mirrored, (no im not doing color tint), i know in va black tint cant be more than 50% on the front windows, and 35% on the rears. mirrored id have to double check, i think its 15% mirrored, but it blocks the sun and heat better.

honestly appearance here is secondary, i just wanna keep the inside of that car cooler!
 
metallized films (not mirrored) are what i use, they block out alot more of the suns radiated energy.

a few issues i see with what you are talking about, 50% is damn near clear in my opinion, and 35%, which is the legal max darkness out here on front windows, is also very stupid light, both of which aren't really going to help do much for heat rejection.

the mirrored film is by far the best way to go for solar rejection, it doesn't have as much heat absorbstion either, the darker shades of film, like smoke and charcoal all have a heat absorbson factor where they essentially absorb heat, although the solar rays coming through the film are greatly reduced, the glass will feel hotter, the mirrored films won't be as hot.

stay away from the spray on crap, make sure you get a highly trained person to install it, yeah anybody can do it, but for a clean, near factory look, you'll want a pro.

as far as price, i personally would charge about $150 for a vehicle like that, but prices are much different across the country.

as far as shades i would install, around here they would be a 20% on the front (illegal, but still transparent enough to not bug the cops) and then a minimum of 15% on the rear windows, although mo st people ask for (limo) which is 5%. probably WAY too dark for your state.
 
They do have spray on stuff and like he said above, it sucks.

In ca, you need to have rear view mirrors on both sides of the car in order to tint anything other than the back window but you can tint it as dark as you want. You can't tint the windshield or front windows at all though.

A professional will do a better job than anyone else and will probably know the laws of your state.

You also might just try rolling up your windows and driving faster. AC use with the windows up uses less gas at speeds over 55mph according to mythbusters.
 
Utah is constantly changing the tint laws so its hard to keep up and know what is legal. BUT I have found that you can get away with illeage tint as long as you keep a clean look to your ride. what I mean is NO other sitckers at all. DO not put the name of your favorite band in the back window no bumper sticker no nothing.

My dad was a cop for years and even though its illeagle they do "profile" your vehicle. Tinted windos with stickers say "hey cop im a kid you can harrass" They even have it broke down to assosiate what drugs with what bands. for example bob marley, kotton mouth kings, jimmy buffet all say to a cop "hey you need to check me for weed"

I say that because its basically a waste of time to put lighter than 20% on to keep the heat out. I FULLY agree metalized tint is the way to go. Cheap nonmetalized tint will make your car hotter because the non metallic pigment will just absorb more heat rather than reflect it Like mentioned above if the glass is hotter the inside of the car is going to be hotter.

Hears a tip that is sometimes pretty tricky as far as the law goes. A bottom strip on your windshield makes a noticable differnce in heat in your car. Blocking the sun from getting to your dash is what I think makes the differnce. I run black sticker material on the outside of the glass about 6" high. The only thing it blocks the view of is the hood, And it can and has also saved my windshield from rock chips. I also run a top strip about 6" down.

Front doors (20%) and windsheld strips (top is 5% bottom is solid non transparent) on my yukon the rest of the tint is factory.

040.jpg

041.jpg
 
Ask right up front if it is a metal base or a plastic base tint. If it is not metallic based tint, WALK AWAY!!! The metal is a bit more $, but lasts. None of that turn purple and blue and bubble up and look like garbage.
The greatest key to keeping heat out is tinting the front windshield too. It is illegal in many places. But what you get is the lightest tint they have. You can only notice it if you have a well trained eye. But it still blocks out up to mid 90% of UV rays, etc. That makes a world of different. I am getting ready to do my Blazer tint as well as my little car. Looking for a guy that is expert, willing to tint windshields and uses metalic based tints. These are a must.
 
if ya want to tint a windshield, (again, illegal) there is a film Solar Gard has available that is called Ultra Performance 75, it's damn near clear, but has a 40% solar energy rejection rating and rejects 99% of UVA/UVB Ultraviolet. then add a strip across the top of the windshield (visor strip) which i looked up and you are legally allowed to go to the "AS-1" line on the windshield and no further below.

by the way, for those with "factory tint" like those on SUV's and such, that is only a "privacy glass tint" it has absolutely NO heat rejecting or solar energy rejecting properties at all in that glass, if ya want it alittle nicer, get a light film added to all other windows, 20% is common without darkening up the windows too much, i usually install a 15%, but on my Burb i installed a Suntek brand 5% and well, you CANNOT see in and it's pretty difficult seeing out at night, but i needed the privacy to keep prying eyes out of my truck :p:.

Suntek brand is my primary film, it's an excellent quality film, others i use are Solar Gard and SunGaurd.

ask for the films by name to ensure top quality material.

and PLEASE don't use your local Craigslist ads, use your phone book, you may pay alittle more, but you are paying for quality and workmanship, plus if there are any problems down the road, most of the people i have delt with that used Craigslist initially, couldn't get ahold of the original tinter to repair or replace a defective install job.

if ya haven't figured it out yet, i am a window tinter :D
 
Last edited:
Unless you've done it before I don't reccommend trying to apply yourself. Can get a little tricky.
 
Take it from 4XCrazy. The guy lives in Phoenix for the love of pete. If you don't have air there, you are probably already dead! And if you don't have good window tint, you probably have blisters all over your hands.
What is it going to cost to tint my chevy sprint? With windshield? If you do good work on that, I have some other stuff too.
 
thanks for all the info guys. i did some looking around online today, and did come to alot of the conclusions you guys gave me.

1. without question i will be finding a genuine professional tint shop to handle the install for me. Im great with a wrench, but im not body or paint or tint man. a local shop www.tnttint.com has my interest, i sent an email asking if they have a showroom or place of business i can come by to see their product and samples to help make a decision. Also so i can now ask about which brand name they use.

2. metalized film all the way. ive heard the dye film can heat your glass to the point of failure because it absorbs instead of reflects heat. i am SO not down for that crap. although i did find a film called "black chrome" which is a dark reflective film.

3. i have extra stickers on my car..... but one says "biodiesel" and the other says "60mpg", not sure which drug those indicate.... maybe weed cuz im a tree hugging hippy and all ;) Although at some point i do plan on having the steelies powder coated red, installing some white letter tires, lowering the suspension, and getting a rat rod style matte black paintjob. so i may still get some hassle from the local 5-oh, so id like to avoid anything illegal that will get me tickets or the cost of removal.

4. heat while driving has only been an issue once so far, driving with windows up and AC off in the early evening / late afternoon hours trying to get max mpg. (wound up getting 65!) but i had sweat rolling off of me, it was probably over 100 in that car. i had a cooler of ice and water to keep cool and hydrated till the sun went down. Mainly the problem im having is when the car is parked, even with the windows cracked, and a reflective sun shade placed in the windsheild, its a solar oven by the time i come out for lunch in the mid day. The ac does a pretty good job of cooling it down but it must be working really hard. Sometimes turning the ac on with the car stationary nearly stalls the engine. (its only got 90hp, cut me some slack :D)

5. kinda annoying that the "legal" tint percentage is all but useless :mad: im gonna have to think about that. I mean, on the one hand i dont want tickets, on the other, i dont want to ask a tint installer to do something unethical either. Im guessing my local tint installer could tell me what his customers are running and getting away with. I mean, its a 90hp jetta that i bought to drive for fuel economy, so i dont drive in a way that garners attention, i mean i do 55 on the highway, yup.. im "that" guy. but i also do 55 down the parkway on my way to work where the speed limit is 45.

a lot to digest, thanks again everybody.
 
This may just be me but I dont like the reflective windsheild shades I think white does a better job of keeping the heat out. But plane white windsheild shades are hard to find, witch is the reason I dont use one.

I have never herd of anyone getting more than a fix it ticket but that still means taking the tint off and finding a popo to sign the ticket off and mailing it in to the court.

Utah is stupid, cars have lighter tint laws than trucks and SUVs, cars can go 35% trucks and SUVs can go 50% on the drivers and pass door but anything behind the driveres shoulders can go as dark as you want. the lower the number the less light is let through.
 
hey balzer, does the strip on the front help make the other tint look darker by keeping the light out?
 
Its pretty dark inside, I would say yes because mine is lower than legal by a long ways. Driving next to me you wouldnt be able to see me unless the sun was shining right on me like if I was driving into the sunrise or sunset.

I couldnt say for sure because I had it done at the same time. But I can say it made the factory tint seam lighter.

4xcrazy, are you sure about the factory tint comment? My factory tinted windows say "solar gaurd" eched in the corners and seam cooler to the touch on the inside after setting in the sun. At least they seam cooler than I would expect. Its cooler to the touch than black paint.

Not that it matters I plan to hve the factory tinted windows tinted darker anyway.
 
There is a clear tint that blocks the UV rays from entering the vehicle (not sure what percentage).
 
4X4HIGH said:
There is a clear tint that blocks the UV rays from entering the vehicle (not sure what percentage).
Click to expand...


they block about 98-99% of both UVA and UVB rays, i mentioned earlier about a very light shade of tint you COULD put on the windshield (technically still illegal) but it's so light the law would most likely not even notice it.

yes, a visor strip DOES reduce incoming light through the windshield enough to make the rest of the vehicle look a touch darker, not alot, but i personally notice it.

i use the visor strips mainly for the obvious reason, darken the top of the windshield for setting sun issues, it helps A TON.

i will be tinting up WannabeRacings' car tomorrow,(later this morning), he sent me a picture of it currently without tint, i'll get him to post up before and after pics and let ya know what i used and did.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest Posts

Top Bottom