Factory Window Tint Percentage on 2018 Tacoma

Hahaha yeah I love the top, very useful for me but I tried taking it off the other day to haul a big package and 180 lbs just wasn’t happening by myself lol

 

Should’ve seen me trying to fit a snowblower lol

 

Good idea. It will offset my OCD.

I wish. Ohio had pending legislation to make the tint laws less strict, but the cops were against it so I guess it died before it came to a vote.

 

I'm hoping my black interior helps make the tint look darker. I had a light interior in my old Subi and 50% tint didn't do much.

 

Love the truck man what’s your suspension and tire set up?

 

Ahh that sucks man.

 

Thanks man I appreciate it! I have the full Icon stage 2 kit with 285/70/17 BFG KO2's. I honestly need to get upper control arms. I want to adjust it up a little higher, (I believe im only sitting around 1.5" of lift over stock right now.) I want it to be at least 2.5" over stock. These damn trucks are always a work in progress lol.

 

I’d have the installer figure it out, you don’t look like an idiot not knowing exactly what you need. When I ran a repair shop, I would much rather deal with someone who openly admitted they didn’t know what they were talking about vs. the know-it-all who read about it on the internet and is now an “expert”. It’s not like you’re buying an appliance with tons of different options and you want certain feature sets and to get other people’s opinions, you just want your windows tinted to a certain percentage... not much variability in it. I applaud you wanting to be an educated consumer, but there’s not much to educate yourself on that will benefit you in your purchase.

That said, window tint is rated in the percentage of light it lets through, so 75% tint let’s 75% of light through and blocks 25% of light. In theory, if you wanted 50% light transmission and the factory window tint (rated at 75%) blocked out 25% of light, you’d need to block out an additional 25% of light (maybe with another layer of 75% tint?). The only problem, is I don’t know if it’s linear. I don’t know if just doing an additional layer of 75% tint on top of the factory 75% would give you and overall percentage of 50%. This is why you leave it to the experts haha!!

 

Thanks for the reply! I have an appointment next Wednesday and I'm just going to say I want as dark as possible legally, and leave it to him

 

I can’t remember what percentage my tint guy told me the OEM were, but he did tell me that they were factory tinted all around and did block UV. My front windows were tinted to match the rear as closely as possible and the windshield as much as possible while still remaining legal.

 

Wish it were legal to tint the front windshield here in California.

 

Not legal here in SC but oh well lol

 

Front windows Llumar CTX 25 meters in at 18% VLT
Rear windows The CTX 40 meters in at 13% VTL

 

Add my two cents. Buddy is former police officer and professional tint installer now. He recommends machine cut ceramic tint which is what he installed on mine. Blocks heat from the cab of the vehicle which is a big added benefit.
First, all glass isn’t absolutely clear (aka 100% light transmission) that’s why you get readings of around 72% on your front windows.
Stock rear tinted windows meter at about 29% using his meter.
I had him install 35% ceramic on my front windows and it matches virtually perfectly but is technically a few percent lower ~26% when metered.

Another note on the laws, often they are NET values. Meaning if the law says 35% net tint allowed, putting on 35% tint will (as mine does above) result in a lower net value.

I would highly recommend doing 35% film on the fronts if you want to match the rears perfectly. (Photo attached)

 

Friend of mind had limo tint on his whole car for 3 years and finally got a ticket however his cousin is a detective and I don’t have one of those haha

 

Dealership tinted my front windows Florida legal before I bought my truck. I had 20 or 25% added to the back windows.

 

I had a cousin once. He went to the tint guy and asked about legal tint. The installer had a friend who’s brother was a policeman, long story short.. he got tint.

 

Ceramic is what’s on mine. It’s more expensive but worth every penny I think.

 

Here in Kentucky this is legal, and let me say, that strip makes a world of difference, same percentage as the rest of my tint. Is this illegal in Californistan?