Tint or not?

jonnyd330 wrote: Tint is a must in Florida

And Nevada. I put 20% on the side/rear windows of my xB. On top of the factory 25%. Now I have 5% of light coming through. It seriously helps on 116F days like yesterday.

My buddy runs a tint shop. As a result he tends to tint my VW's whether I want it or not The missus loved tint and her '03 Jetta Wagon was 20% on everything but the windshield. I hated driving that at night. I had to roll the windows down to see where to pull into driveways at night. I wised up and went 35% on the rear and 40% on the fronts of the GTI and it is much better at night.

The tint shop guy did always tint the windshields of his race cars. They were never driven at dark so he used a light tint to cut down glare. It really worked.

Oh yeah. Pros use a commercial laundry steamer to remove tint.

It is still quite a bit of work.

MrJoshua wrote: Related but tangent: How about the windshield. I know its illegal in most states but man o man would my Previa benefit from even the slightest tint on the windshield. My driveway is uphill and places the van at the perfect angle for the early afternoon sun to ROAST my interior. I sit on the edge of my seat and fingertip hold the steering wheel 1/2 way to work until the AC catches up.

My Focus has always had limo tint, but after getting pulled over twice for the front windows, I replaced the tint with a lighter shade. It helped out in the end, because the nighttime visibility was pretty bad. I like the back windows to be really dark, though; it keeps the car a lot cooler and I like the added privacy.

Regarding front window tint, guy who owned the shop where I got my windows redone said that he would tint to just about any percentage, as long as you paid cash and didn't mind not getting a receipt. He would probably help you out with the Previa.

You need tint for the heat around here. Only reason I didn't put it on the Samurai is because I drive it in offroad night rallies. Just looks-wise tint usually looks good.

ultraclyde wrote: I'm not a fan of decreased visibility, but I sure would like to cut the heat (and even more th UV). A while back I saw some talk of a clear tint that was 100% uv block, but I haven't checked into it. 3M maybe?

Here it is

Here's the MotoIQ review of it

I might actually give it a go on the wifes car.

Huh I'll have to see if I can get that for the Samurai...

BoxheadTim wrote:

bravenrace wrote: idunno, but my CRX came with it plastered over the rear window and defroster. I'd sure like to know of a slick way of removing it without killing the defroster.

IIRC our local tint place has a machine to "sweat off" the tint from rear windows and according to them, most of the time there is no damage to the defroster (but they won't guarantee it).

I bought some stuff at the local parts store called "Window Film Adhesive Remover" for ~$10. Spray on window, cover window with black trash bag, let marinate for 5-10 minutes in the sun, remove trash bag, peel up corner with a razor and the whole thing peels off in one big sheet. It didn't damage any of the defroster lines and very little adhesive. Quick and easy and no steam machine.

Yup, 3M crystalline and Huper-Optik are the prime candidates in the internet's "which tent is best" argument.

MrJoshua wrote: "which tent is best" argument.

I pick the one that doesn't leak when it rains.

EvanB wrote:

MrJoshua wrote: "which tent is best" argument.

I pick the one that doesn't leak when it rains.

Oops!

On a more serious note, couldn't you just use a sunshade for when it is parked?

I am not a big fan of tint.. but here in NJ. the rear and rear side windows are legal to tint down to 0%.. but you cannot do the front side windows at all.

So basically clear on the windsheild and front doors.. and you can paint the rear windows black and it would be legal in NJ

In reply to EvanB:

I could, but I often have a very impatient 19 month old and a bickering 7 and 6 year old waiting on me to get them out of the Van. Combine that with my laziness and a strong fondness for figuring out how to fix problems instead of actually fixing them and you see where a lot of my questions come from.

Heck-I have already found an adhesive flexible solar panel for the roof and have a very good idea about how to mount an exhaust fan for a hypothetical system to keep the van no warmer than ambient. All for a $500 16 year old van so it will never happen.

ditchdigger wrote: Oh yeah. Pros use a commercial laundry steamer to remove tint. It is still quite a bit of work.

The Jiffy J-4000 commercial steamer (when the Pontiac J2000 isn't enough) SWMBO has one of those, pretty handy for removing wallpaper too. I will have to try it on tint, since I usually strip the tint off the cars I buy. I like tint, however my driveway is extremely narrow (a dually will hang 1 tire off both sides) the street light operates 1 month out of the year and I seem to only buy cars without operating backup lights.

EvanB wrote: On a more serious note, couldn't you just use a sunshade for when it is parked?

That's fine for the windshield, but on a car like mine with a ginormous hatch there aren't sunshades big enough. I'm getting the rear side glass and hatch tinted, partially to cut interior heat but also because my interior is in fantastic shape for a 28-year-old car and I want to keep it that way.

The other option for me would be window louvers, and they're just tacky.

I love Tit and I love to titt cars , Save yourself from skin cancer cover yourself with a tit job,

MrJoshua wrote: Related but tangent: How about the windshield. I know its illegal in most states but man o man would my Previa benefit from even the slightest tint on the windshield. My driveway is uphill and places the van at the perfect angle for the early afternoon sun to ROAST my interior. I sit on the edge of my seat and fingertip hold the steering wheel 1/2 way to work until the AC catches up. This guy did it with 50% on the windshield and 30% everywhere else but I was thinking more like 70% Visible Light Transfer on the windshield and 50% on the front two windows to match the rest of the vehicle.

Get one of those folding sun shields.

Karl La Follette wrote: I love Tit and I love to titt cars , Save yourself from skin cancer cover yourself with a tit job,

I love tit (s) too, but how does a tit job save you from cancer ?