iPod FTW! Now if only it had an option of shuffle play

 

Mine does?

 

Yours does through your head unit?? Please tell me how

 

I have 20% all the way around on my box; and 35% on my TC with 20% on the rear, check my pics, it's really not that dark in the rear, trust me you'll like it that dark. On bright days you can still see all the way through the rear window, but the sides look really good. I've had my tints on for almost 4 months and noticed no loss of radio signal. I'm getting ready to pull the 35% off the TC and go down to 20%. And remember DO NOT CLEAN your windows with ammonia. That is the only reason tints turn purple...ammonia bleaches out tint. If you have a hard time convicing your tint shop to do it, there's a lot of companies that make kits that are easy to install, I don't want to plugg any companies....cough..tintkits.com....uhumm.

 

Factory tint is IN the glass. You can't remove it.

 

Agreed. I think once you go Sirius, you can't go back. I actually have my antenna unplugged... I never, ever listen to commercial ridden terrestrial anymore (two years now).

And good information about the tint. I've been toying with the idea of getting mine darker.

 

Okay, I do this and I have it on my box. I feel 5% on the already darker glass, shich is just that, darker glass so there is no film on it already, it just too dark. I had it and it is dangerous unless it is never night time where you live. I took it off and put 20% over the dark galss and I have 5% on the fronts and it is close, but closer inspection from the inside shows that the 5% on the fronts is darker than the 20% over the dark glass in the back. But it does look good just very illegal.

they do make non metalized film that has a lifetime warranty against fading and it just the same price. I have it and it works just fine.

Ammonia does not bleach film, it wears off the scratch resistant coating. b/c it dries it out and makes it crack and then it starts to flake clear stuff (that's the coating).

Yes, metalized film will interfere with your AM reception, much like going under power lines or in a tunnel or in the drive thru car wash. The metalized film actually has a layer of metal in it, stretched out so thin that you can see thru it between layers of the film coating. The darker a film is, the more layers there are to it.

The most expensive film is ceramic film that is mostly made in Germany and is called Huper Optik.

Hope this answers a few ?'s.

 

I've got 5% tint installed from the rear windows on back, it hasn't effected my FM radio quality (actually dirt on the windows seems to do the most harm to FM signal!) and it's pretty dark. Visibility is obviously not as good as perfectly clear glass, but as long as you act cautiously while backing out of a parking space at night, it's not a danger.

 

Alrighty, ill end this thread and answer everyones questions, the way it should of been answered. Ive been installing window film about a year now, and my friend who taught me has been doing it for about 10 years. We use Johnsons Rayguard window films. I installed 5% all around the car except for the front windshield. The front windshield i have a small 5% "eyebrow". I cant see for crap when its dark out and all my windows are up. I have to roll my front windows down to parallel park so that i dont hit the curb. You cant see in unless there is light in the background on which you are looking at.

Factory tint is 15%. Factory tint is not a film and cannot be removed. Any tint on the front windows are illegal (at least in cali). You will not notice a difference in radio reception if you purchase tint that consists of metal. DO NOT USE WINDEX/409/simple green, or anything that consists of ammonia becuase it will change the films color to purple with consistent use. Purple tint is not a color of choice.

If the tint on the rear windows(the ones with the defrost lines) are removed, you will lose your ability to defrost those windows. Unless the tinter uses a certain method of "steaming" to remove the tint and not the "Scraping" method. Most places dont give that option to retain the factory defrost lines.

Bubbling is caused by improper installation and shuold be covered by warranty.

hopefully this answers everyoens questions.

 

That's the problem and that's what makes it illegal and dangerous. Heck why not just paint all the rear windows black and be done with it?

 

if you remove the tint form the rear window that has a defroster that does not necessarily mess up the deefroster, but the adhesive and/or the removal process may mess up the defroster, you don't have to steam it off.

Purple comes from fading and the only way to get fading is exposure to light, ie the sun. The more intense the sun is in your area or the chaper the film the faster the fading.

the Act of bubbling is from adhesive failure, usually from chap film but was found years ago on 3m film, some of the best at the time (10 years ago). The only bubbles from install come from when the water is not sqeegee'd out of the film very good or there is dirt in the film.

Sorry, but I've been doing this since '97.

 

Purpling and adhesive failure is due to the use of Windex and other glass cleaner that contain Ammonia. Our rear and side glass is colored glass. You can't remove the tint unless you swap it out for un-tinted glass.

 

did someone tell you guys that to keep you from using it, or did the manufacturer tell you that?

 

i just got mine tinted 2 days ago ..........35% on front and 20% on the rears and i'm very happy with the look and ability to still see out the rears.

 

For 06Shadowbox Whats the legal limit on tint% for windows?

 

The rear glass should be at the linit from the factory. It's like 31%. That's why I just had my fronts done to match what the factory did. Anything darker makes it to darn hard to see out of after dark. That's why they have tint laws to begin with cause there will always be people that go to extreems.

 

I want to lightly tint my fronts, and limo all the rest, but I still want to be able to somewhat see at night

 

You won't see much at night if you do that to the rears. Good luck with that.

 

go 20% on the rear, its a good compromise and still is difficult to see in, but still able to see out well at night.

 

Dwatts5250: If you still want to maintain visibility at night leave the rear factory tint as is and get 15% to match for the fronts. In California, NO TINT is legal for the FRONT windows. If the cops a jerk he/she will pull you over and give you a fix-it ticket which costs all of $10 to process plus whatever it costs for you to pay someone to take off the tint, which is really easy with soapy water and a new razor blade.