I could take it to have it done, but I love doing all the work on my truck myself. Plus I dont trust anyone with a knife around my truck. Ive done many things including painting cars, upholstering seats, I'm sure it cant be to hard to put a film on a window. I just dont know where to buy good tint from? Any ideas.

 

My experience with tint film, that experience being negative, leads me to suggest that you have it done by someone who does it for a living. I tried it once, and I'll never attempt it again. Maybe it's just me, maybe it was the film. I don't know. What I do know is I will pay for it to be done next time around.
It must be an art, and you won't save much at all by doing it yourself. My opinion.

 

Just pay to have a professional do it. I tinted my work van windows and they came out OK but they do have a few bubbles and are not perfect otherwise. I don't care since it is a work vehicle, but I wouldn't do it myself on my F150.
BTW, every other mod on my truck I did myself so I am good with my hands but tint is more of an "art" similar to wallpaper hanging IMO.

 

I tried tinting the windows on a buddy's Dodge Daytona when I was in high school, and in the end, I think Ray Charles could have done a better job than I did. Must not have been holding my mouth right. I'd get it done by a pro; that way too, you'll get a warranty if/when it bubbles or peels away.

 

Just take it to get done. I tired to tint the windows on my wifes car and they came out OK.. I would never do it again..

By the time you buy the tint and try to install it yourself you are going to be in it for like $20 - 30. That is half of what it cost me to have my windows done.

Think of it this way. $50 for the shop to do it from the get go. Or its going to be more like $70-80 you will be out if it does not come out good and you get them tinted at the shop anyway.

 

I did it myself and think I did a pretty good job. One trick is to make sure you use PLENTY[U] of soap water when installing it. I spray the film and the window with it . That way the film can move around a bit. Also use a good squegee(sp?) that will get rid of all the air bubbles. Keep the film wet when you squegee it. You can also pull the film off and wet it somemore if it starts to dry on you.

 

I didn't even want to try to fool with it.. I got it professionally done..

 

I'm with everyone else, get it done professionally. I had a friend that just tinted his Superduty and it came out looking alright at a distance but up close it's not much of a tint job. And since you are going to be up close to it (while driving), I know I would like my tint as perfect as possible. Plus the window tint that the pros use is so much better quality. You can definitely tell that he has the cheaper tint on his windows.

jrbhc8

 

The thicker the tint the better and easier to work with. Also pre cut the tint on the outside of a wet window before peeling the backing off the tint. Make sure when you pre cut it that it is on the window the correct way first. IE the part that peels off to the outside. Its not that hard to do! One drop off dishsoap in some distilled water works great to make about 6 oz of liquid to spray on. Dont tint them in the direct sunlight but on a warm day is a must. I tint all of my own windows and this is just a couple things I learned along the way.

 

I don't know what things are like where you are, but here in Houston there is a window tinting place on just about every street corner. They're literally falling over themselves to get your business, and as such, you can have the work done by a professional for a very low cost relative to other mods.

I think the tinting on my truck (a 2005 Regular Cab) ran $50.00 -- for that price I didn't even consider messing with it myself!

 

Me and my neighbor tried to do it on his old car. What a disaster.
Pay someone to do it.

 

I strongly recommend letting a pro do the tint. Like you, I mostly do all the work on my vehicles myself. Heck I once tore down the top side of a GM V6 in my old jeep and replaced the head gaskets myself.

I attempted to do the tint in that jeep and only succeeded in f-in the job up and destroying $30.00 worth of tint. And to add insult to injury, the pro tinter charged me extra to remove the messed up tint and the adhesive that gunked up the windows. All in all a $150.00 pro tint job ended up costing me $210.00.

Later,
Ox

 

Im with everyone here, save yourself the headache.

 

I say DIY. I went on ebay, got pre-cut tint from seller tintsem. I got the tint and the cut was PERFECT. The tint fit on the windows much better than I could have cut it. The install was easy. I don't know if I just know how to tint windows good, or other people just don't have the patience, but I think it is extremely easy to DIY. I took the inner door panel off (5 min extra) and removed the rubber trim that runs along the bottom of the inside of the window. Then as said before, pull the backing of the tint and load the soapy water on the tint. Then spray the window down also. Bring the tint to the window, and blow in the center of the tint. Then you just have to work the edges underneath the window trim around the outside. You will be able to move the tint still. You want to position it about 1/16" to 1/8" from the top of the window. Now squeegee from the center outward on the window, going verticle and horizontal. Make sure to keep the window wet while squeegeeing. Once you have work all the bubbles out, put the door panel back on, don't use you window for a couple of days, and you are set.

If you DIY, make sure you do it in a clean shop, as the dust or any pet hair in the air will stick to the tint. Also make sure you don't touch the adhesive side of the tint, as you will leave fingerprints. I just made sure I held it by the corners when installing it. I think many people are intimidated by window tinting, but I feel it is one of the simpler jobs to do on your own. Just my .02 and I hope I could help.

BTW, I would never want to do a smaller car myself, especially the rear window. The angled windows are such a pain. The new F150, yes DIY, very simple; any compact car, no way! that is too much for me, but as said in the post, def DIY. You will save ~$75, cause the tint for two windows is only like $25 pre-cut.

Good Luck!

 

I have personally watched about 15 different cars get tinted. About 10 of my own through out the years. The bottom line when it comes to tint is the quality of the material. I am 100% confident that I could tint a car and make it look good. The problem is buying quality tint. The stuff my tint guy uses is called Lumar. I cannot find where to buy it anywhere! Of course, he isnt interested in selling any hahaha.