Tinted taillight?

What do you guys think about the dark smoke tinted taillights over the open taillight?

 

Personally, I dig it. Looks good with the theme you've got going on. Would run tinted tail lights, but...California. Awesome truck!

 

Appreciate it. I don’t think it’s legal here in Maryland either but hopefully nothing happens. I’ll keep you updated. Btw meant to say oem not open lol.

 

Are you talking about tinting the tail lights with something like the Lamin-X Tacoma smoked tail light kit? Or do you mean buying smoked tail lights from the various manufacturers that make smoked tail lights? If you mean the Lamin-X smoked tint, I like the idea but for $45, it just doesn’t quite cover all the chrome on the OEM tail lights as much as I’d like them to. That was the main issue I saw when I looked into it. It seems the fives pieces they give you when you purchase the tint kit, does a good job covering most of the tail light, but then has one piece that just sticks on the front (or rear, depending on your position on how you’re looking at the tail light) and it’s a smaller piece that just covers a small portion of that part of the cover. Then there’s the air bubbles that you will always get that go away after about a week, if you did a good tint job on it. Overall, it looks decent and the film is good quality, it’s just a bummer that it leaves some chrome showing. For me personally, if I’m spending $50 on tint, I think I’d rather save up the extra $150-200 for an LED smoked tail light and plug n play install instead of spending the time figuring out where each tint piece goes and spraying it, squeegeeing it, then having to use a hairdryer, etc. But I’m not good at that kind of work and I’m sure there’s a ton of guys/gals on here that could make it look great. Yours looks great by the way.

 

I love the smoked out tail lights. They make the truck look bad ass. Too bad I live in CA. I was told if I got rear ended with those on, I could be at fault or my insurance company would fight me on the repairs.

 

You poor bastards

 

The struggle is real out here!

 

Planning an exit, but Californians get no love. Off-grid seems like a viable option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjnrgWPxhbY&t=765s

 

LOL!! Every state is getting inundated with Californians. But for every 10K people moving out, we got 100K people moving in! An average home in suburbia is $1MIL and they sell within minutes. The traffic is bumper to bumper with Teslas, Prius, Land Rovers and BMW X5’s! You would think with the massive exodus of CA we wouldn’t have these issues. Yet, here we are. #thestruggleisreal

 

Yeah, that's crazy. We got a lot moving to TX, no state income tax but a killer virus has more rights than women. So, you know it's a trade off i guess. Lol.

I don't mind Californians, Yall got me double on my house price last spring. Lol.

 

Its illegal everywhere. And if you get rear ended anywhere you could be found at fault. That isn’t a California thing.

 

I think that anything making you less visible to other drivers is a good thing.

 

I would not do it personally, it’s not worth the diminished light output and consequences if something happens because of it.

This was my biggest fear going that route. If you are rear ended and they argue your lights are tinted you could be held liable. I put Alpharex jet black tails on mine which are SAE ant DOT certified. The inner housing is blacked out but the lens is clear. Too soon to tell if I will get harassed for these but I at least have the argument that they are actually certified.

 

Well in Texas, it's not TECHNICALLY illegal. The law reads......Regarding tail lights, all vehicles in Texas are also required to have at least two stop lamps that emit a red or amber glow. These lights must be visible from at least 300 feet to the rear in normal sunlight.

So it's that distance thing you can be nabbed on.

https://www.texasdrivingschool.com/articles/texas-headlight-laws-are-you-breaking-the-law/

 

good info and thanks for the link

that said modification of lamps from as supplied by the manufacture gets into sticky arguments about federal DOT certification, etc and the liability issue still remains.

 

I dont mind the look, but don't like it enough to give the cops a "reason" to pull me over. Even if its legal they will still say its too dark and couldn't see the brake lights. Been there, done that. Not worth the hassle IMO

 

yeah, it’s a rough situation. And even if you ensure they function properly all some has to do is mention it and now you are arguing from a disadvantaged position

 

And you're exactly right on that. And even as expensive as these mods are...... if you read a $1k set can have "for off road use only" listed. So be weary on that. Sometimes less expensive can be shady and you end up paying for it.

I know from experience on a car once. Lol

 

Same as stated in Florida law.
I hadn't had my tinted tails on for more than a few days when I was pulled over in the sunshine state.
Cop said I could take them off on the spot or get a ticket.. and he wasn't going to be taking measurements..
This was years ago now, and I've since almost rear ended more than one vehicle with tinted tail lights. I wouldn't do it again myself, even with guaranteed impunity.

 

I don’t know about other states, just CA. Here’s the particular California V.C. in question. I don’t know what you mean by “if you get rear ended anywhere you could be found at fault”. That’s almost never the case. If you get rear ended anywhere you are almost never at fault so I must’ve lost where you were going with that.
California vehicle code Division 12, Chapter 2, article 3, 24600 section (e) states: “(e) Taillamps shall be red in color and shall be plainly visible from all distances within 500 feet to the rear except that taillamps on vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1969, shall be plainly visible from all distances within 1,000 feet to the rear.”
CA has some of the strictest laws then any other state unless you wanna smoke weed or break the law. Then you are well protected here.