anyone know anything about tinting??

[billbraskey]

hey guys ive tried tintin my own windows a couple of times.. and got pretty good at it.. but i took it down both times cause it was perfect....
my question is is lighter tint alot easier do?? ive been tinting my hatch wich is off my car..with some tint i think i bought at autozone or somthing .. and its like 2.5 % really dark..but i just cant get it to look as good as id like. part of it ight be my glass that is a bit scratched up..? seems like it makes inperfections alot easier to see... sooo if i go with 35% or somthing will it be alot easier to make look nice? i decided i want to go lighter anyways.. anyone got any good pics...?

 

[Turkey Sammich]

I recently had 33% installed a few weeks ago. By law, it's suppose to be no less than 35% Anyhow... Pictures as requested.....

 

[Darkwriter77]

Yeah, any scratches on the inside of the glass surface will show up because you'll have a tiny air bubble/gap under there. Ditto for any bits of dirt or whatever, so make sure you have the entire surface absolutely spotless. The darker the tint, the more contrast there will be, and so the more easily you'll be able to see all of those imperfections - sort of like why cars painted black are such a PITA to keep clean. And, as mentioned, 35% is generally as dark as you can go in a lot of places; anything darker than that just tells people you're either a gangsta thug, you've got a stereo or other equipment inside that you're trying to hide, and/or you enjoy not being able to see out of your car when driving at night. So, stick with the 35%.

Depending on what type of tint material you're using, it's kind of a trial-and-error thing, but the main trick is keeping the air bubbles out. Doing it in the shade (preferrably in a well-lit garage) is pretty much mandatory, because you have to keep the surface wet enough that you can squeegee out all of the air bubbles without getting wrinkles or scuffs in the tint material, nor any swirlies and ugly marks left on the glass - sunlight pretty much bakes it on there instantly. Also, trimming it up right helps keep it from getting peeled off over time; I've found that if you either remove or pull back the felt lining at the bottom of your side windows when tinting, you'll need to trim it to leave at least 1/4" of material below the felt line (and stop right at the felt line on the top edge0, otherwise your tint will get peeled off or gouged up when you go rolling your windows down/up. A few things like that you'll pretty much figure out through trial and error.

 

[billbraskey]

ok thanks ill try 35% " still illeagal here" but that doesnt bother me .. driver passenger window and windshield your only allowed to have top 4 inched tinted..."mi"