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Anyone do their own window tinting?

7.6K views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  clancy98  
#1 ·
I'm thinking about doing the rear window and side-rear window ( I have the extended cab SLE).

Is this hard?

Tips and tricks?
 
#3 ·
its not hard but there isn't much cost advantage to doing it yourself.I've done severalin and out of a shop, if you don't have a tint table (a large glass easel) then it can be very time consuming and your bound to get dust and gnats and little pin bubbles in it unless you have a nice shop and use high quality tint, another problem with doing it yourself, you can't just go to walmart and buy the quality tint that a shop would use. if you try it then good luck and take your time, and keep it wet, very very wet.
 
#5 ·
I did my own with some tint from o'reilly's. the tint cost be about $20 i think and it took me a whole night to do it. if you read the instructions really well you can do a decent job. it is a pain to do, but i saved about $50-60 doing it myself. sure, you can spot where i screwed up a few times, but it looks good enough for me. it really depends on how picky you are about it. on my s10 i dont worry about it at all. my show truck how ever, if i tint it, i will have it professionaly done
 
#8 ·
If you are going to do it yourself, and don't have a tint table as blazed was talking about, the front windshield makes a nice one in a pinch, also the stuff from wal mart, can't remember the exact name of it, but it will fade and turn blotchy and purpled in about 2 months. If you do buy tint, try to get some Gila tint from like auto zone or somewhere like that. Ive been told that gila is actually a sub company of one of the large tint manufacturers, although I can't remember which one. 2 years ago I put up some Gila on a small glass window, and then beside it put some up of the wal mart brand. Now, the Gila is actually the same as it was when it was put on, and the wal mart brand went from blotchy, to purple, to now it's basically just a clear film on the glass. Also, you can buy the tint solution to mix up with water, but it still doesn't work as well as a little baby shampoo mixed with water. Also, remember when you're trimming the tint out while it's on the outside of the window, remember to have the liner facing you so when you pull the liner off the glue will be on the side you want it to be on. And of course, 2 pieces of masking tape is always a good trick to get the plastic liner coming off. Also, and Im not trying to sound like a jackass, but remember there is a clear liner over the glue that has to come off for it to be able to stick to the window. The reason I say this is, when I was 15 I bought some tint because I wanted to tint my s10 myself, and the guy at the parts place told me the tint was held on by static electricity, so obviously that didn't quite work out for me.
 
#10 ·
i have done alot of tint, the back glass will require some heat shrinking... side glasses are a pain tryin to get the pins out for the lach unless u cut the tint to go around it but i don't like to do that...but puttin tint on the sides are cake after the pin and lach is out of the way
 
#11 ·
O how i love my first gen :) I just took out both the side windows, and did them on my kitchen table after it was thoroughly cleaned. Both of them came out PERFECT and have held up for about a year now with no purpling/bubbles/peeling. the tint also goes all the way to the top of the window so there isnt a little clear strip up top. As for the back window, i got one hair in it near the bottom but a vinyl sticker covers that up so its fine. if you do it yourself do not rush and make sure you have 2 people it makes things a hell of a lot easier
 
#12 ·
clancy98 said:
is that a softride in your sig? completely yellow?
yeah.

u got one?

most people don't even know what it is.

someone even thought it was a bike made by Ducati (sans mufflers under the seat).
 
#13 ·
BATMAN said:
yeah.

u got one?

most people don't even know what it is.

someone even thought it was a bike made by Ducati (sans mufflers under the seat).
nah I dont have one but they're such a unique bike, there were a couple in a local shop here. Any bigger pics?

I ride a steelhead now, plus I have a couple old 10sp roadies converted to FG/SS.