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View Full Version : anyone tint their own windows?



Filthy Filbert
03-07-2012, 02:05 AM
I just watched a video on youtube, the guy put window tint on in about 10 minutes...video was only a few minutes long,but I'm sure parts were clipped out, but he still did 90% of the work in a matter of minutes.

made it look easy.

And the technique is about the same as putting vinyl decals on the exterior of a car...soapy water, squeegee, etc.

If I can put a 3'x3' vinyl decal mural on my bed cover, then I think I can put tint on my window.

question is...if you've done your own truck windows...is the door glass curved enough that you need to heat shrink the tint to the window. or is that only if you have a compound curve like the corners of a windshield or rear glass?

1EVILR/T
03-07-2012, 02:22 AM
I just watched a video on youtube, the guy put window tint on in about 10 minutes...video was only a few minutes long,but I'm sure parts were clipped out, but he still did 90% of the work in a matter of minutes.

made it look easy.

And the technique is about the same as putting vinyl decals on the exterior of a car...soapy water, squeegee, etc.

If I can put a 3'x3' vinyl decal mural on my bed cover, then I think I can put tint on my window.

question is...if you've done your own truck windows...is the door glass curved enough that you need to heat shrink the tint to the window. or is that only if you have a compound curve like the corners of a windshield or rear glass?

Screw that:jester:, i've tried a bunch of times and everytime i try i always get a hair or dust in it, i gave up trying,

lunchbox
03-07-2012, 02:30 AM
harder than it looks I tried it. I just got pissed, and took it to be done.

Jstrag360
03-07-2012, 02:45 AM
I did it fine lol. I've done a few cars.

Kingst3r
03-07-2012, 02:56 AM
Tried it and said screw it, put it back in the box an returned it. I got all 5 of my windows done for 140 including tax. For that price its not worth my time and it came with a lifetime warranty

01dodgedakota
03-07-2012, 03:43 AM
one of my buddys in school used to tint and made it look pretty easy but i wouldnt try doing it myself

Adobedude
03-07-2012, 04:00 AM
I've done it...Side windows are cake...Rear window of a car? Fuck that.

Jstrag360
03-07-2012, 04:03 AM
Haha I hear you on that. Will never do a rear window on a car again.

nevr2fast01
03-07-2012, 04:09 AM
I just pop the windows out of the doors and lay them on my glass stand, easy, now the back window i hafta redo because after a couple beers im a 90plus degree garage you loose focus and start on the ends and not the middle and get a nice line down the middle of your shit.........i have yet to redo it

Adobedude
03-07-2012, 04:12 AM
Haha I hear you on that. Will never do a rear window on a car again.

You have to be an illegal meth head. Then it's easy.

Jstrag360
03-07-2012, 04:21 AM
:jester:yea so you can stay up for hours after each mess up.

Filthy Filbert
03-07-2012, 11:24 AM
Lucky for me, my rear glass was already done by the prior owner.

so, aside from dirt/dust, it sounds like it shouldn't be TOO difficult.

I managed to get this down without airbubbles or wrinkles, and there's even some complicated curves going on with the contour to the bed cover, since they're not quite parallel:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c6/filbert383/DSC_0242.jpg


I know it's a gamble, and you see crap jobs at the walmart parking lot full of air bubbles and wrinkles, but I bet if I take my time it won't be that hard. My plan was to remove all the weather stripping out of the door so the glass edges are easy to get to. ALMOST the same as pulling the whole glass out.

I could pay $100 for both door windows, or spend half that on the material and try it myself. If I screw it up I can always pull it back off

Filthy Filbert
03-07-2012, 12:13 PM
guys who have done it yourself, what brand did you use? I found some rolls of tint on Amazon that are 20" x 10' for $15, limited lifetime warranty and "Deep dyed technology for color retention"

for that much material for only $15 plus shipping, vs paying a local shop $100....

doing it myself gets that much more attractive

stunnapj
03-07-2012, 12:17 PM
It's deffinately much easier to pay around $175.00 to $250.00 to have a pro do it not as easy as a vinyl deco...trust me u dont want any light spots bubbles or peeling. I used 5% tint all the way around but your rear window and sides if you have a CC will look darker with the factory tint...make sure you get the sun shade on the front window to it looks Badddasssss!:rockwoot:

Patrick
03-07-2012, 01:38 PM
So you're going to tint your driver and passenger windows and not having working reverse lights!? Good luck backing up at night.

Oh yeah, that's me. Haha.

Mine tested 8% on the troopers meter.

Patrick
03-07-2012, 01:48 PM
make sure you get the sun shade on the front window to it looks Badddasssss!:rockwoot:

After having that on all my vehicles, I think it looks incomplete. That's why I got the entire windshield done in 35% and it looks a million times better than the strip, IMO. If you can't see out of 35% at night on a dark road, you might be blind.

Filthy Filbert
03-07-2012, 04:24 PM
So you're going to tint your driver and passenger windows and not having working reverse lights!? Good luck backing up at night.

Oh yeah, that's me. Haha.

Mine tested 8% on the troopers meter.

that's what curb feelers are for!:jester:


yea, seems that NV3500s must be "famous" for not having working reverse lights, or, as I've said before, God really does hate me. because my switch works great. with it in my hand, I can press the ball in, and my reverse lights come on. with the switch installed in the trans, it doesn't turn on.

my old junk trans was that way, and I kind of hoped that my new one would not do that...but it does:fml: and yes, this new one is new to me, reman'd piece, NOT my original rebuilt, I had to send that back in as a core.

maybe a toggle switch for backing up! seems crude and a pain in the ass, but I'm not dumping more money into this trans to make my back up lights work.


when this one blows up, I'll force myself to sell plasma, or sperm or a Kidney or something, to afford a faceplated TKO or a T56 swap.

:jester:

01dodgedakota
03-07-2012, 10:28 PM
dont think anyone warned you so i will, if you do end up tryin it yourself DONT use windex to clean the windows unless you want your tint to turn purple soapy water is the best thing to use

Kingst3r
03-07-2012, 11:05 PM
What percent are you going with? I had 5 percent on my back window and even at night you could kind of see threw when looking from behind. I think its because of the larger windsheild and big rear glass lets in more light. Went back today and got another layer, so its double 5%, you cant see shit looking in :jester:. Looking out during the day isnt too bad, but at night you can only see headlights looking out. With that said I would do the least of 15% on the rear IMO. 20% on the sides are plenty.

01dodgedakota
03-07-2012, 11:12 PM
What percent are you going with? I had 5 percent on my back window and even at night you could kind of see threw when looking from behind. I think its because of the larger windsheild and big rear glass lets in more light. Went back today and got another layer, so its double 5%, you cant see shit looking in :jester:. Looking out during the day isnt too bad, but at night you can only see headlights looking out. With that said I would do the least of 15% on the rear IMO. 20% on the sides are plenty.

i know a kid that had double layer 5% all the way around on a nissan truck, and you couldnt see SHIT out the windows

Kingst3r
03-07-2012, 11:20 PM
i know a kid that had double layer 5% all the way around on a nissan truck, and you couldnt see SHIT out the windows

I bet, now that is just dangerous!

01dodgedakota
03-07-2012, 11:23 PM
I bet, now that is just dangerous!

nah just role the windows halfway down when you pull up to a stop sign, it got the job done might look like a crackedhead doing it at every stop sign but it works :idunno:

Filthy Filbert
03-07-2012, 11:29 PM
my back glass is already done, no idea what level it is though, because it was done when I got it. but you can't see in it at all, and it's very dark, hard to see out of in daylight, and forget about it at night, all you can see out of it at night, is the headlights of the car behind you.


not sure what I should go with on the door glass yet. anything over 50% in Ohio is illegal without an eye doc's prescription for sensitive eyes. but, 50% is hardly anything at all.

I'm still thinking about it, 75% of the time I drive the truck, my windows are all down anyway, since I don't have A/C, at which point it really doesn't matter WHAT your level of tint is, when the glass is down inside the door!:jester:

01dodgedakota
03-07-2012, 11:33 PM
my back glass is already done, no idea what level it is though, because it was done when I got it. but you can't see in it at all, and it's very dark, hard to see out of in daylight, and forget about it at night, all you can see out of it at night, is the headlights of the car behind you.


not sure what I should go with on the door glass yet. anything over 50% in Ohio is illegal without an eye doc's prescription for sensitive eyes. but, 50% is hardly anything at all.

I'm still thinking about it, 75% of the time I drive the truck, my windows are all down anyway, since I don't have A/C, at which point it really doesn't matter WHAT your level of tint is, when the glass is down inside the door!:jester:

dont waste your time or money on 50% i think thats whats on my back window and it doesnt do SHIT to block light

Filthy Filbert
03-08-2012, 01:57 PM
dont waste your time or money on 50% i think thats whats on my back window and it doesnt do SHIT to block light

right. that was why I'm still debating this. 50% is a waste. even if I do it myself. anything more, I risk getting window tint violations. but, then again, when I'm driving with my window's down because I don't have A/C, they won't see the windows or think to ask me to roll them up to check. "sir, my window's have been down since I left my house, you did not see my windows, what's your probable cause/reasonable suspicion to check my window tint?" :jester: yea, like that would work!

Filthy Filbert
03-13-2012, 09:08 PM
Well, I did it.

Tint was like $20 shipped, has a "limited lifetime warranty against color fade"

we'll see how long it lasts.


Couple of footnotes... When I do the other side, I'm going to use RO water out of my filter system, even our "softened" well water has a lot of shit left in it, and I fear that I may have to re-do this window due to minerals that are left behind as the water is pushed away and dries over the next 3 days.

we'll see though. maybe I'll get lucky and what I see between the tint and the window will disappear.

worse case scenario, I'll have to peel the driver side and do it over again... If that's the case, it'll cost me $40 to do the windows, and I'll have enough left over to tint another one:jester:


I went with 35%, didn't want to go so extreme that a cop is going to pull out, tail me, and follow me for miles looking for an infraction to pull me over.

I think it'll be "just enough" not too dark, but still dark enough to count

here's some pics, taken about 3 minutes after I finished.

Filthy Filbert
03-13-2012, 09:11 PM
note...my rear glass is already tinted very dark from the previous owner. I don't know how much, 20%? 10$? hell, it might even be 5%, it's awfully dark and hard to see out of at night sometimes!:jester:

anyway, that extra dark rear glass is making hte driver door look much darker in the view where you can see through the windshield and see through the passenger side glass like it's not even there. the driver glass isn't that dark, it's just the rear glass behind it blocking all the light

PeteRT
03-13-2012, 10:27 PM
nice work. i just paid $125 a couple days ago for 2 doors and a sun-strip!

Hugh Jassole
03-14-2012, 01:29 PM
don't you have motor work to do, LOL :jester:

Filthy Filbert
03-14-2012, 01:39 PM
don't you have motor work to do, LOL :jester:

ha ha ha.


HEY FUCK YOU CLOWN!!!:jester:


Actually, I finally figured out what was wrong with Eric's truck yesterday. I found the root cause for ALL these tiny little "bumps" that keep me from getting it done.


it's because it's a Z-code:finger::jester::nana:


Anyway, I'm just waiting on the machine shop now. once they call me and I get the head back, I fully intend on getting this bitch running within 6 hours of getting the head back to my house.

In the meantime, Eric's Beltech drop leaves finally arrived yesterday after being back ordered from summitt for over a month, the local Napa is handling the press work for me, getting the cal-trac solid bushings into the front eye, I'll pick those up later today and get crackin on his drop and cal-trac installation.

I swear, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I just can't quite get there though. hopefully it's not an oncoming train though.