[gern_blanston]

Ceramic 50% tint and chrome-delete at Black Diamond Tinting (Salem, Oregon)

Good bunch of guys, nicely executed work. Came out looking pretty good I think.

 

[GregBrew]

Ceramic 50% tint and chrome-delete at Black Diamond Tinting (Salem, Oregon)

Good bunch of guys, nicely executed work. Came out looking pretty good I think.

In CA, anything under 88% of light in, or minimum 70% VLT if combined with factory-tinted windows, is probable cause to get you pulled over by the local constabulary. I don't need that kind of grief.


Edit: It's kind of nice to be able to see the driver, too.

 

[MDBolt]

Ceramic 50% tint and chrome-delete at Black Diamond Tinting (Salem, Oregon)

Good bunch of guys, nicely executed work. Came out looking pretty good I think.

Awesome! The chrome delete piqued my interest. How did they accomplish this? Vinyl?

 

[gern_blanston]

In CA, anything under 88% of light in, or minimum 70% VLT if combined with factory-tinted windows, is probable cause to get you pulled over by the local constabulary. I don't need that kind of grief.


Edit: It's kind of nice to be able to see the driver, too.

Wow. Bummer about the Cali rules. 88%?!? That's basically no tint at all. My shop had 80% and it looked like nothing, especially from inside the car. We're allowed 35% here, which I thought was a little dark. You can barely tell from inside the car with my 50% and it looks good from the outside, supposedly has zero UV transmission, and I frankly don't give a tinker's **** about whether people can see in, so I'm very happy with it.

 

[gern_blanston]

Awesome! The chrome delete piqued my interest. How did they accomplish this? Vinyl?

Yeah, it's black vinyl. It's fairly flexible so they can stretch it around the curves of the chrome trim.
I wanted to try it after talking to 'em about it during the tinting process, and I really like the way it turned out. None of this stuff's necessary, or maybe even smart, but I always tinker with my cars and it was relatively inexpensive for the amount of time they spent doing it and I am very happy with the end result.

 

[gern_blanston]

Here's another shot showing what the 50% tint looks like.
Still scratching my head over the 88% limit in California. I had no idea.
The 35% that's allowed here might be a bit much at night, but the 50% is barely noticeable.

I really like the way the blacked-out chrome turned out.

 

[MDBolt]

Here's another shot showing what the 50% tint looks like.
Still scratching my head over the 88% limit in California. I had no idea.
The 35% that's allowed here might be a bit much at night, but the 50% is barely noticeable.

I really like the way the blacked-out chrome turned out.

Agreed. Your chrome delete vinyl job is on point.

 

[GregBrew]

Wow. Bummer about the Cali rules. 88%?!? That's basically no tint at all. My shop had 80% and it looked like nothing, especially from inside the car. We're allowed 35% here, which I thought was a little dark. You can barely tell from inside the car with my 50% and it looks good from the outside, supposedly has zero UV transmission, and I frankly don't give a tinker's **** about whether people can see in, so I'm very happy with it.

Got it.

You obviously don't ride a bicycle or motorcycle, where locking eyes with the driver can be critical to survival. Excessive tint also prevents other car drivers from looking through your car to see oncoming traffic on the other side.

I find it especially important at stop signs when I'm turning right, and the other vehicle is turning left.

 

[GregBrew]

Wow. Bummer about the Cali rules. 88%?!? That's basically no tint at all. My shop had 80% and it looked like nothing, especially from inside the car. We're allowed 35% here, which I thought was a little dark. You can barely tell from inside the car with my 50% and it looks good from the outside, supposedly has zero UV transmission, and I frankly don't give a tinker's **** about whether people can see in, so I'm very happy with it.

Got it.

You obviously don't ride a bicycle or motorcycle, where locking eyes with the driver can be critical to survival. Excessive tint also prevents other car drivers from looking through your car to see oncoming traffic on the other side.

I find it especially important at stop signs when I'm turning right, and the other vehicle is turning left.

CA is correct on this one.

 

[gern_blanston]

..You obviously don't ride a bicycle or motorcycle, where locking eyes with the driver can be critical to survival

What a bizarre and fascinating assumption. And totally incorrect. Where the heck did that non-sequitur come from?
Only 20-30 miles a week on my bicycle, but I have been riding motorcycles for decades and currently own a '94 CBR1000F that I purchased new.
I can make eye contact quite nicely through my untinted windshield or my tinted windows, but eye contact can be a fool's
tool as far as driving goes. Looking someone in the eye and reading their mind has never worked for me, and is
discouraged as a reliable defensive driving technique in every Motorcycle Safety Foundation class that I have ever taken. During daylight hours,
I typically wear sunglasses on my bike and in my car and have a tinted visor on my Shoei when I'm on the CBR, so eye contact isn't really practical anyway.
Trust me, I'll never run over you on your bicycle; sunglasses, visor, night time, or tint notwithstanding.
Ride safe.

 

[gern_blanston]

...Excessive tint also prevents other car drivers from looking through your car to see oncoming traffic on the other side.

Agreed. So no excessive tint for me!

 

[gern_blanston]

For those interested in objectively observing, here's a shot taken in my driveway 20 minutes after sunset.
To the left... My Clipper Creek HCS-40 as seen through 50% tint.
To the right... My garage wall as seen through the untinted windshield.
Not nearly so dark as 50% would imply. Note: The writing on the EVSE is quite
legible, but my phone focused on the A pillar, so it appears a wee bit blurry.

 

[Vertiformed]

@gern_blanston: It'd be cool if you can decide on your position. Is it that your tint is reasonable, and people can see in and through the car or is it “I frankly don't give a tinker's **** about whether people can see in”.

It's the latter attitude that seems kinda inconsiderate.

 

[gern_blanston]

@gern_blanston: It'd be cool if you can decide on your position. Is it that your tint is reasonable, and people can see in and through the car or is it “I frankly don't give a tinker's **** about whether people can see in”.

It's the latter attitude that seems kinda inconsiderate.

It'd be cool if you can enumerate your reasons for giving a tinker's **** about my position. But to satisfy your peculiar fascination... My position is both. I chose not to go to the legal limit (35%) because I thought it might impinge on my outward visibility at night. I think it's reasonable. And safe. And I seriously don't give a rat's patootie whether people can see in. I mean I honestly don't care. Why would I? If I'm in a cargo van or a semi that's 10 feet tall or a full-size pickup, I'm opaque from street level anyway, and most people manage to work around that handicap. But you CAN see through my windows if you want to. [where's that head-scratching emoji?] I got the exact results that I wanted, legally & safely, and people I don't know are trying (apparently) to change my opinion of my choices. It's quite humorous. As for being inconsiderate, I'm not being inconsiderate, I'm just being apathetic. I feel comfortable having legal tint on my legal car driving legally. If you don't want tint on your car, I salute you. Don't get tint. If you can't see through someone's tint, treat 'em like a cargo van and look around 'em. If you encounter me at a stoplight, lock eyes with me or look through my windows to see what's on the other side, and proceed safely to wherever you're going.
Bottom line is, if the worst thing that happens to you all week is you not being able to figure out why some guy who lives a thousand miles away tinted his windows, you're doing A-OK.
Have a good one.

 

[Sean Nelson]

...I seriously don't give a rat's patootie whether people can see in.

I can understand you feeling this way, but I can't help but feel that it's a little shortsighted. All road users benefit when everyone has the best possible information to make their driving decisions on, and sometimes that means being able to see a driver or to be able to see through a vehicle to traffic beyond it. Yes, some vehicles don't allow that kind of visibility, but the more that do the safer we all are. It's exactly the reason why elevated centre brake lights are now mandated on all vehicles.

 

[gern_blanston]

Well, I don't care if people can see in, so I'm happy.
People CAN see in, so they're all happy.
My car is legal in the state I live in, so the local constabulary is happy.
I like my setup, aesthetically and practically, so again, I'm happy.
Everybody got to give their opinion on the internet, so everybody's happy.
Everybody.

I love a happy ending.

 

[SodePop]

I agree with the original poster. Good for you and I don't understand what the eff these people are talking about with others being able to see you. Why does that matter again? I have no idea and honestly don't really care. Sorry. I plan to tint EVelyn as well, and will probably go even darker than 50%. It's your car! Do what you want with it. Haters gonna hate. No changing it.

 

[NJ Bolter]

Years ago, I moved from Texas to Pennsylvania. When I went to get my car inspected, it failed inspection because the window tinting was too dark.

I asked why it is illegal in Pennsylvania. The answer given was to protect the police. If tinting is too dark the police cannot see inside the cabin. An officer had been killed recently when he could not see a gun being drawn against him.

 

[gern_blanston]

...If tinting is too dark the police cannot see inside the cabin

Yep. I think that’s the reason for limits, although I find it interesting that there is absolutely no limit on rear windows; they can be completely opaque.

 

[gern_blanston]

I agree with the original poster. Good for you and I don't understand what the eff these people are talking about with others being able to see you. Why does that matter again? I have no idea and honestly don't really care. Sorry. I plan to tint EVelyn as well, and will probably go even darker than 50%. It's your car! Do what you want with it. Haters gonna hate. No changing it.

Thanks. Yeah, kinda’ surreal. I get flak for an issue (or actually a non-issue?) that doesn’t even apply to my car. Tried to figure out why, then wasted a couple brain cells trying to come up with a snarky response (my natural inclination > )but your “haters gonna hate” pretty much says it all. Get some tint and enjoy it sir!