what i am saying is that tinting your lights will not make the bulb get hotter, or closer to the lens. all the chevy guys you are talking about...they tinted their lights and bam...theirs are deformed...because their lights are now absorbing more of the suns rays. try this. put your hand on the roof of your truck on a sunny day. then do the same on blacktop. blacktop will be a lot hotter...BECAUSE ITS BLACK, it absorbs the suns rays and gets hotter. your truck will still be holy crap hot but it wont be as hot since it reflects the sun's rays better. ford would not put bulbs in that are in danger of melting their own lenses from the factory and that goes for any company. because then 175 degree bulb plus all the heat trapped inside would make it hotter. and you are right, the eyeblack reduces glare also. but they will also absorb heat and suns rays unless its formulated not to. i shouldnt have said light before, i meant the UV rays from the sun. but its a fact, darker colors absorb the suns rays and get hotter than lighter colors. thats why they tell you not to wear dark colors during the summer, especially black and to wear lighter colors like white and yellow..because the suns rays reflect better so you stay cooler
the lenses deform from the sun and bow in because it is the weakest point of the lens. there is no way my cargo lights would melt the 3rd brake light because they are on for 15 seconds at a time. and if it was the bulbs, all of my lenses would have been deformed. the bulbs are not really that close to the lens, even on the chevys. they might be closer than fords but the companies are aware of how hot the bulbs get compared to the lenses and wouldnt put bulbs that are in danger of melting the lenses in their vehicles. im pretty sure they have been in this business for just a few years and know not to melt their vehicles.

 

ew that's weird for a taillight to do

 

We're both reiterating the same thing basically. Yes I know black is hotter. What I'm saying is that the tint caused your housings to trap the heat of the sun to get them warm and that combined with the bulbs would do that.

All in all, your tint was the determining factor. Are you going to keep them that way or buy new ones?

 

^ yeah pretty much. im just gonna keep them. the 3rd isnt noticeable unless i am like 6 ft or less away from it. and the passenger side...well...im not gonna spend more money for a new one and have it do the same. plus i would have to buy both sides to match the tints. probably could do it but it would take a lot of trial and error to get them to match. ill just keep it as is i guess :\

 

You can always replace them and use Rvinyl precut tint sheets on the new ones.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Taill...Q5fAccessories