I'm planning to get my truck tinted this weekend. It's a 04 lariat with factory tint on the rear windows and back glass. I'm guessing what's on it is 35% and I'm planning to either go 20% or 15% on the front. What % can I put on the rear to have it look balanced? 70%?

Anyone have any experience on this? I still want to be able to see out. I realize that people will be able to look in still and I'm afraid 15% will be too dark. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Ryan.

 

Factory privacy glass on the rear 3 windows is 18%. Every tint manufacturer is a little different, so it's hard to tell if one brand's 20% would be lighter or darker than another's.

Personal preference, I'd only ever get 3M (Color Stable) tint on my truck. Specifically ask what brand the shop uses. Suntek, Llumar, and a few others are fine, but I'd still only want 3M.

I'd do the 20% 3M (I'd do 15% if they made it, but I don't think they do) on the front, see how it looks, then add tint to the back windows later since it doesn't cost extra to have it done in stages. Assuming the fronts are darker, I'd just slap 35% or darker on the back and call it a day. The backs being darker is fine, and still looks good.

Too dark is definitely a problem. I have 5% on my front windows, with 5% on top of the 18% on the back windows and it's way too dark for me. But it looks so good . . . However, if I were to go back, I'd have done 20% on the fronts and not touched the other three windows.

I have no idea if this is actually how you do this, but this is how I think of layered tint. The percentage of the tint is the % of light allowed through, so two layers of 50% would be (0.50)x(0.50) = 0.25 or 25%. So factory 18% with 35% on top would be 6.3%. Maybe 50% would be good too for 9%.

 

Kmac is spot on for tint advice. Especially the 3M color stable series tint. That is all I use when I tint windows. Worth the cost. Looks great. I have 5% color stable on my fronts and 20% Llumar over the back. It looks decently balanced. The rears are more dark than front. I recommend going 20% on front, and 35% over factory rear. Should be very close to balanced.

I prefer pitch black. My 5% color stable looks more like 10% is the only gripe I have about it. I had Llumar 5% ATR before and it was darker in terms of light, however it appeared charcoal and not rich black like I wanted. The 3M color stable series, and the Black Box Tint Ali E series is the only ti Ts I use, nano carbon material. Much more black than charcoal film.

 

I just talked to him. He said they use Johnson window film and they lifetime warranty it. great info guys I appreciate it.

Ryan.

 

The warranty isn't what I'd be concerned about, though I'm sure it's a limited lifetime, which isn't worth a darn. Other tints look weird, have non-black colors visible inside and outside, and it may not match the rear windows. Though I'm not tint expert, I've never heard of Johnson, so I'd be wary.

Good luck!

 

Here is an interesting thread if you're interested in seeing the 3M color stable on my truck. I had complained about the Llumar being off in color tone, it shows strongly on dark vehicles.

https://www.f150online.com/forums/ap...color-off.html

As you can tell with the pics in post #14, the Color Stable is rich and black.

 

That truck looks sexy all murdered out. I hope mine turns out looking good. I ordered a light bar today. Everybody is rich on pay day.... lol

 

There it is. 15% looking murdered out.