Well today I took off my old window tints (they were fading to like a greenish ugly color). Now that I look at the car, and can finally see into it from the outside, it doesn't look half bad. On the other hand, it doesn't look half bad with tints on it. Now I'm sure some of you are going to say 'its more of a personal choice', but I just want to hear some opinions about what you guys think looks better. with, or without tints. (I have a 96 gt coupe thats red). And if you do like tints, what % do you think would look alright ? Gracious amigos.
My car came with factory tint and I love it. I would go with 35%
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2002 Mustang GT 5 speed, daily driver, satin silver , air silencer delete, added K&N FIPK II CAI, Flowmaster 40 series mufflers, Mach one chin spoiler, Mach one grill, Diablo Predator 93 octane performance tune, Ford Racing springs, J&M subframe connectors
Well actually anything over 18% is legal in tennessee by the way I bought it. A lot of my friends have thiers done at a different shop and was talking about 30&35% tint which was like the 20% I had seen, so I dont know if shops go by different ratings or something. Because where I get mine done my dad had his f-350's front windows done to match the rear factory tint and they put 20% on it and it matched perfect. I have double ply tint with 20% and something called platnum tint. It makes a light silver window tint. But I got pulled over for my tail lights being too bright and got wrote up for the tint.
This info is at the top of the righthand column in the second page down in that link (which is page 24 of the handbook) under the heading 'Also Required' in the section dealing with windows and windshields.
It seems that I was wrong and the laws about passenger cars are even more strict than I thought. To quote directly:
"No tinting material may be affixed to the windshield of any motor vehicle. Standards for the other windows depend on the vehicle as follows: Passenger Car. No material which transmits less than 35% of visible light may be attached to any window. Multi-Purpose Vehicles: All windows behind the front seat are exempt. Windows immediately to the left and right of the driver must comply the same as for passenger vehicles."
Elsewhere on the Dept. of Safety website, it says that SUVs and pickups are 'multi-purpose vehicles.' That means that the tint shop you were talking about put illegal tint (20%) on the front windows of your dad's truck but that he can have six layers of 5% on the back windows, if he wants.
The first line quoted means that any tint whatsoever on a windshield, including a narrow strip at the top, is illegal. I don't think anyone would have trouble as long as the strip doesn't come below the AS-1 line. In fact, I doubt if most police officers know that rule.
The rest of the rule for passenger cars means that 20% anywhere on a car is illegal and that only 35% can be used - even on the back windows or back quarter windows. That rule must have been changed in the last few years because it used to be that only the front windows had restrictions. I guess this would also mean that the side window scoops that are popular for the S197 Mustangs are, technically, illegal since they completely block the window.
If a tint shop put 20% on your Mustang windows, according to this, they put illegal tint on your car. Of course, any reflective tint whatsoever on a car is also illegal in Tennessee (although people seem to get away with it.)
It's kind of funny, though, how anything darker than 35% is 'dangerous' and illegal for the rest of us but I see patrol cars all the time with 20% (or darker) all the way around (including windshield strips.) I guess cops must have magic eyes that can see better to drive more safely with dark tint than the rest of us, huh?
Yes I have had the can you read your license through the window, but most state troopers have a card that is half white and half legal tint color. My tail lights had regular bulbs in them but the red had burnt off and they where a pretty bright white, but I changed them and took my tint off and got out of the $350 ticket. I will be putting the platnum and probably 18% back on.
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1998 GT Saleen replica
New forged internals w/cobra crank, TEA CNC ported heads w/ comp cams XE270AH, AccuFab throttlebody and plenum, Spec III clutch, TKO 600 trans, aluminum drive shaft, 3:73 gears, BBK long tube headers, 255lpm intank fuel pump, Dyno tuned, Polished Procharger D-1sc 12psi, 3 core intercooler. SVO hood and 18in Budnik wheels w/toyo tires. Caster/Camber plates BBK lowering springs. Car web page
Comp cams XE262AH,T-45 with tri-ax shifter for sale
Yes I have had the can you read your license through the window, but most state troopers have a card that is half white and half legal tint color. My tail lights had regular bulbs in them but the red had burnt off and they where a pretty bright white, but I changed them and took my tint off and got out of the $350 ticket. I will be putting the platnum and probably 18% back on.
Good luck! I really want 20% because yellow Mustangs look so much better with darker tint, but I don't want trouble with the cops. Kind of pi$$es me off because the drug dealers, etc. in the neighborhood I used to live in, on East Fifth Avenue in Knoxville, could get away with 5% all the way around (I guess the cops were afraid to pull them over), and I see ricers driving like idiots with super-dark tint all the time, and they never seem to get stopped, but I am sure that I would probably get a ticket within two days of having mine done.
I am going to look into the idea of having a doctor's prescription for darker tint and try to find out if such a thing would work in TN. I really did have a minor eye injury last year that left a scratch on my cornea and has increased light sensitivity in that eye (I have light blue eyes, so they were already pretty sensitive to light.) I went to the opthomatrist and everything, so there is record of the injury. I will probably just end up going with the 35%, though. Whatever the case, I am going to get the strip on my windshield. I have never heard of anyone having trouble because of that. Besides, it seems to be the fad among some ricers right now to put a vinyl strip (not clear tint) across the top of their windshield. If they can get away with that, surely I won't have trouble over a tint strip down to the AS1 line.
I have always been told if its not below your rearview mirror it is legal or the little line thats usually on the window. I usaually have my windows down, my car is not a daily driver so I am not too worried.
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1998 GT Saleen replica
New forged internals w/cobra crank, TEA CNC ported heads w/ comp cams XE270AH, AccuFab throttlebody and plenum, Spec III clutch, TKO 600 trans, aluminum drive shaft, 3:73 gears, BBK long tube headers, 255lpm intank fuel pump, Dyno tuned, Polished Procharger D-1sc 12psi, 3 core intercooler. SVO hood and 18in Budnik wheels w/toyo tires. Caster/Camber plates BBK lowering springs. Car web page
Comp cams XE262AH,T-45 with tri-ax shifter for sale
I have always been told if its not below your rearview mirror it is legal or the little line thats usually on the window.
That used to be the case. The last time I had tinting done, it was legal to have a strip on the windshield as long as it didn't come below the AS1 line. Apparently, though, the law has changed. According to the info I posted a couple of posts ago (which comes from the Driver's Handbook on the Department of Safety website), it is illegal to affix any tint whatsoever to the windshield of any vehicle. I guess that means the banners a lot of folks have on their windshields are illegal, too. Like I said, though, I don't expect any trouble from that - I suspect that particular rule isn't enforced.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blueoval
I usaually have my windows down, my car is not a daily driver so I am not too worried.
My Mustang is currently my Summer daily driver, but the Bronco II will be the DD for the Winter. Once I have the a/c fixed on the BII, the Mustang won't be doing as much DD duty in the Summer, either. Maybe I should wait until after I'm not driving the Mustang as much and then get 20%. I have almost decided to put 20% on the BII, but I don't expect any problems with that. Besides (unlike the Mustang), I'll tint the BII myself so if I have to remove it, all I will be out will be the cost of the tint (the rear side and tailgate windows are already pretty dark from the factory and are exempt from any regulations, according to the handbook, since it is considered a multi-purpose vehicle.) One word of warning I will pass on, if you go to Gatlinburg, ride with the windows down. I have spoken with a few folks who say they have never had troubles with 20% elsewhere who got ticketed in Gatlinburg.
Tint ads as much horsepower as a big ricer wing. I would take the money I would have used to tint and make the car go faster.
How much horsepower does your 1200 watt Alpine sound system add to your T-bird? Not slamming you for it - I have a couple of subs and a small (200 watt) amp in my Mustang (of course, all those components were given to me, absolutely free)...the point is, not everything is about racing. For instance, mine's a daily driver and I don't street race. It is nowhere near the fastest thing on the road, but it does already have enough horses to get me a nice, big, fat speeding ticket (not that I don't still have plans for some go-fast mods eventually.) If tint increases someone's enjoyment of their car, it's just as valid a mod as 4.10s or anything else. Tint will be something you can use all the time, every time you drive the car. It will look good and, in some cases, (such as mine) make driving more safe - not to mention helping to protect the interior from fading. Therefore, unlike a 'big ricer wing', tint is functional and a good investment to enhance the appearance and value as well as prolonging the life of the interior of the car.
Well I fell sheepish , oh well, seriously I thought about tinting my car and the lowest we can go around here the last time i checked was a 35 % tint and I didnt think it made the car it dark enough to look the way i wanted it, or to justify the expense of it. I would put on 20 % (but the cops are tint nazi's around springfield mo)
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1997 thunderbird 4.6sohc 14.2@ 97 mph -75hp wet nitrous, 4.10 gears and eaton posi unit, cold air, custom manifold back catless exhaust, diablo sport chip(changed rev settings, timing, and trans pressures, etc.), msd 8.8 wires, msd digital window switch, ngk tr-6 plugs, drilled and slotted rotors. and 1200 watt alpine sound system, wideband dataloging o2.
-89 5.0 LX convertible, future project car
-2001 dodge ram 2500 cummins diesel, 5speed, 4x4.
Well I fell sheepish , oh well, seriously I thought about tinting my car and the lowest we can go around here the last time i checked was a 35 % tint and I didnt think it made the car it dark enough to look the way i wanted it, or to justify the expense of it. I would put on 20 % (but the cops are tint nazi's around springfield mo)
Tint nazis...!!! Okay, that's funny.
Cop [with a bad, B-movie German accent]: Und just exactly how dark is your tint, mein Herr? Speak up, Herr Tintmeister - ve have vays of making you talk.
Soundwave: Well, the guy at the shop told me it was 35%, but it might be darker - I don't know anything else, I swear...
Cop: Klaus, key his car. If that doesn't vork, put that big Honda sticker on it. We'll get a confession out of him yet!
I would tint! 
, oh well, seriously I thought about tinting my car and the lowest we can go around here the last time i checked was a 35 % tint and I didnt think it made the car it dark enough to look the way i wanted it, or to justify the expense of it. I would put on 20 % (but the cops are tint nazi's around springfield mo)
