Advice on car window tinting

[mamboze]

Hi,

I've decided to have the windows of my Isuzu D-Max tinted. I want to strike a reasonable balance between comfort (UV and heat reduction) on the one hand and road safety (being able to see out clearly, particularly at night) on the other.

The advice I've got from a local supplier (up here in Lampang) is for 40% front screen and 60% on side and rear windows. This seems little dark to me, but I would welcome any comments or advice from members here.

Also, the window tint brand recommended is Lamina. Has anyone had experience with this?

[Tywais]

Moved to the Motoring forum. Several topics in there you can look at also regarding tinting.

60% is much too dark unless you don't drive at night. I have 30% sides and 20% windscreen and it is a happy medium for me.

[KhunBENQ]

UV absorption is not a matter.

All V-Kool e.g. claim 99% UV protection.

About the numbers: be careful that you don't mix "absorption"/"tinting" percentage with "translucence"/"permeability" percentage.

V-Kool always specifies percentage of translucence.

I have 70% (VK 70), no tradeoff on security for me.

This is in Thai only, but shows what I mean:

http://v-koolcorp.com/%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A2%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%A1-solitaire-energy/

This must be Thai truckers favorite

Edited April 9, 2016 by KhunBENQ

[JaseTheBass]

None on the front unless you don’t care about seeing when driving at night.

[Ace of Pop]

Lamina Experience. I wouldnt wrap a Sandwich in it , its the free crap dealers offer.

[JAS21]

Go ceramic ...dark from outside but fine looking out. SolarFX have a place in CM.

Plenty of advice ...many topics previous on this forum.

As I said go ceramic and you won't regret

[giddyup]

Lamina Experience. I wouldnt wrap a Sandwich in it , its the free crap dealers offer.

I got it free I admit, but I can't complain about it. I can see out of it easily at night, it does cut down on heat in the cab, and there's only a very light tint on the windscreen, hardly know it's there.

[Ace of Pop]

I fed up of popin outside to see what we got, but i like the best 3M s clear stuff on the HRV n Civic, the Mrs has another Yank clear top make, but essential imo if you night drive, and others can see you in the daytime, nice when you let em through with body language, and get a cheery thanks back.

[CharlieH]

Just had mine re-done, 80% rear and sides, just a band across the top of the front screen.

Can see out just fine, no one can see in from side or rear so safe to leave things in the car

[Ace of Pop]

And play with your tingaling.[emoji79]

[JaseTheBass]

I'm too tall to have a top tint. The line is always right in the middle of my line of sight. An old car I had in the UK had the top tint built in as one of the laminate layers and didn't have a hard edge. Worked much better for me.

[pgrahmm]

I'm too tall to have a top tint. The line is always right in the middle of my line of sight. An old car I had in the UK had the top tint built in as one of the laminate layers and didn't have a hard edge. Worked much better for me.

I drew a diagonal line from I perceived to be my normal driving sight lines at the base & terminating at the top of the windshield almost to the center of the steering wheel....Causes no obstruction at all ......I drew it and they did it perfectly.....

It's at a nicely tapered angle so it also looks good - for those that care to look....

[JAS21]

Come on ACE ...Lamina have five different qualities ...from Popular (probably good for sarnies) and is quite often the free stuff to Special Series which is not that bad ...

[JaseTheBass]

I'm too tall to have a top tint. The line is always right in the middle of my line of sight. An old car I had in the UK had the top tint built in as one of the laminate layers and didn't have a hard edge. Worked much better for me.

I drew a diagonal line from I perceived to be my normal driving sight lines at the base & terminating at the top of the windshield almost to the center of the steering wheel....Causes no obstruction at all ......I drew it and they did it perfectly.....

It's at a nicely tapered angle so it also looks good - for those that care to look....

I would have a strip about 2 inches wide.

[georgemandm]

Hi,

I've decided to have the windows of my Isuzu D-Max tinted. I want to strike a reasonable balance between comfort (UV and heat reduction) on the one hand and road safety (being able to see out clearly, particularly at night) on the other.

The advice I've got from a local supplier (up here in Lampang) is for 40% front screen and 60% on side and rear windows. This seems little dark to me, but I would welcome any comments or advice from members here.

Also, the window tint brand recommended is Lamina. Has anyone had experience with this?

I have 60% side 40% front big mistake on the front should have been top 8in that is all .

Side should have been 50% but I can live with it .

[Ace of Pop]

I'm too tall to have a top tint. The line is always right in the middle of my line of sight. An old car I had in the UK had the top tint built in as one of the laminate layers and didn't have a hard edge. Worked much better for me.

I drew a diagonal line from I perceived to be my normal driving sight lines at the base & terminating at the top of the windshield almost to the center of the steering wheel....Causes no obstruction at all ......I drew it and they did it perfectly.....

It's at a nicely tapered angle so it also looks good - for those that care to look....

I would have a strip about 2 inches wide.

All rather strange, im 6 Ft 2 , mates Ozzie Joe is a moaning 6 ft 6 Ten Pound Pom, and Jon the Long Yanks 6ft 7. No Worries for us , Perhaps your eyes are on pods above you ears.

[Atum]

All rather strange, im 6 Ft 2 , mates Ozzie Joe is a moaning 6 ft 6 Ten Pound Pom, and Jon the Long Yanks 6ft 7. No Worries for us , Perhaps your eyes are on pods above you ears.

I think it depends on how upright you like to sit - how upright you like the car seat to be. I am 6' 3'' and I have the seat almost all the way back (one click from the max), but very upright/straight. This means that I see out the front window through the top couple of inches when I look straight ahead. If they were covered in dark film then I would have a big problem.

[Erik BKK]

I have 60 all around the car. It's just a little darker at night, but if you still have decent eyesight it's ok.

My advice however is, to get into cars with different levels of tinted windows and see for yourself. This could be neighbours or cars at the dealership. The latter is what I did to test 60 as I had 40 before and was still occasionally spotted by police.

[pgrahmm]

I'm too tall to have a top tint. The line is always right in the middle of my line of sight. An old car I had in the UK had the top tint built in as one of the laminate layers and didn't have a hard edge. Worked much better for me.

I drew a diagonal line from I perceived to be my normal driving sight lines at the base & terminating at the top of the windshield almost to the center of the steering wheel....Causes no obstruction at all ......I drew it and they did it perfectly.....

It's at a nicely tapered angle so it also looks good - for those that care to look....

I would have a strip about 2 inches wide.

The taper goes to the top of the windshield - no strip at all in front of my vision area or driving position....

Just tapers to nothing.....

[Ireland32]

My GF driving my truck outside Phon, I have silver tint, he pulls her over to side of road and tells her Black ok , silver no good, anybody else, only other problems I have, is near Khon Kaen with police, I was pulled for driving with my lights on during day

[mortenaa]

As I really care to see out at night, I've opted for 3M Crystalline CR70. Used It's a 30% tint, but much better specs than any other 30% tint on the market. TSER of 50%. Superb visibilty at night. Recommended!

[villagefarang]

UV absorption is not a matter.

All V-Kool e.g. claim 99% UV protection.

About the numbers: be careful that you don't mix "absorption"/"tinting" percentage with "translucence"/"permeability" percentage.

V-Kool always specifies percentage of translucence.

I have 70% (VK 70), no tradeoff on security for me.

This is in Thai only, but shows what I mean:

http://v-koolcorp.com/%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B1%E0%B8%A7%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%A2%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%87%E0%B8%9F%E0%B8%B4%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%8C%E0%B8%A1-solitaire-energy/

This must be Thai truckers favorite

x15.jpg

I have V-Kool on one of my cars and it is great both day and night. What is important is visibility and what it blocks, not how dark it is. At first I wasn't sure if I believed their claims but now I am a convert.

[tomyumchai]

ill be using suntek carbon ceramic.....because ive got 20+ rolls of it.

[DrDave]

If you have a GPS unit, make sure that you get a GPS-compatible film.

In my case the dealer included tint as a freebie, and the Mrs specified Lamina film in the level of tint that we decided on. After receiving the car, we noticed that the GPS would frequently cut out, or place us 10km or so away from our actual location (many times on the top of a mountain, or out in the sea!)

After complaining to the dealer about the GPS not working, they told is it was due to the tint film, which normally contains small metallic particles that interfere with GPS satellite reception. They advised to replace the windshield film with one that's GPS-compatible. We had a 3M film installed and the GPS now works much better, but still occasionally gets confused, probably due to the fact we didn't change out the film on the side windows.

BTW - this was with a factory installed GPS, for which the antenna is buried somewhere in the dashboard. My old, portable GPS worked fine, even with the metallic film.

[sandgroper2]

Just a thought, why not hold a piece of tinting up to a window and have a look at it.

[DrTuner]

40% all around. I often drive in the early mornings when it's still dark, anything more and I could just as well be whistling ultrasound to navigate. The underlying windows already have a green tint, so I'm guessing the total with film is in the region of 50-60%.

[maingmoom]

Moved to the Motoring forum. Several topics in there you can look at also regarding tinting.

60% is much too dark unless you don't drive at night. I have 30% sides and 20% windscreen and it is a happy medium for me.

I have been driving with 60% sides and 40% front for 11 years. I have found this to be a perfect choice. Driving at night is no problem.

[buythisdashcam]

This is the best but the problem is that your post means nothing without telling the brand.

% tint are different for each brand, just as sun protection.

% without brand = useless

Moved to the Motoring forum. Several topics in there you can look at also regarding tinting.

60% is much too dark unless you don't drive at night. I have 30% sides and 20% windscreen and it is a happy medium for me.

[buythisdashcam]

Same reply. guys, you really still know nothing in 2016 ?

Moved to the Motoring forum. Several topics in there you can look at also regarding tinting.

60% is much too dark unless you don't drive at night. I have 30% sides and 20% windscreen and it is a happy medium for me.

I have been driving with 60% sides and 40% front for 11 years. I have found this to be a perfect choice. Driving at night is no problem.

[masuk]

Moved to the Motoring forum. Several topics in there you can look at also regarding tinting.

60% is much too dark unless you don't drive at night. I have 30% sides and 20% windscreen and it is a happy medium for me.

agreed!

There are Thai standards I believe, but as usual, totally ignored.

If the sides are too dark, it's impossible to see the twits riding bikes or motorbikes at night with little or no lighting.