V10_MAN

Installers in the Chicago area (or at least by me) don't carry and don't seem to know much about ceramic tint. They either carry non-metallic or polarized or a metallic tint.

Are there problems associated with using a metallic tint everywhere except the back window and using a polarized film there?

Thanks in advance.

Jon

Carlos Ramirez

But first you must get to know what the difference between films are


1. Dye Films.. They are colored films after a while they are the ones that go from black to blue to purple. I really don't see any benefit to these films other than you can get colored films and they tend to be cheaper.

2. Metallic films have issues with being 2ply or even 4ply films. Which makes it thicker which has inherit problems with shrinking the film. Any good installer worth there salt will always shrink, and edge there film. Metallic films tend to have better heat rejection and etc because they have more reflection. Tho I think nothing screams I have tint as does reflect tint.

Here is a quick link to one manufacture

http://www.madico.com/auto_productlines.asp

This is the one I will probably use on my Q7 I have been researching the ceramic films. This company and hooper optik are the 2 films I am familar with. The reason why of installers don't like hooper is because its like 4mils thick, which is like security film, also because it is so thick it can't really be heat shrinked and has issues with ghosting. The madico films claims to be only 1.5mil thick (the same as there regular films) and is shrinkable.

From madico I only really like the Charcool, and Onyx, and advanced ceramic looks decent.

Also metallic films also tend to cause reception problems with cell phones, radar detectors, and etc.

BTW I only selected madico as reference but bottom line stay away from dye films.

mksap11

to any tint installation, however, is the installer. Find the best installer in the area and listen to his suggestions/recommendations.

Jusforfun

What sort of time frame re fade? replacement difficult/expensive?

Carlos Ramirez

It is just a matter of time. The usual time is 2years for fading to be apparent. Tho film has come along fairly well over time but why use it when it has no real inherit gains?

Carlos Ramirez

My friend is the tinting bussiness and has been doing it for a while and he tought me some of his methods and some I picked up by just talking to him and bugging him about the different tints and etc. But it was a joke on how he stripped the windows from my car and when I tried.

The usual method is to put the car out in the sun and get the film wet and then put something behind the glass to get all the glue hot and guey and then yank it off like you were doing some kind of magic trick. And the follow it up with a razor blade to remove all the excess, and then clean it and do it again. I did my side in about 35mins and still had alot of glue left, he did the other side in 5mins :-)

The end result is that there is still some residual glue in the glass embedded in the pits of the glass. So what he does if you really want it to be perfect tint is to have you bring your car back a few days later so the old glue has dried up so it can be scraped off or cleaned off. And still results vary.

The best way to see how good a tint job is to look for creases, dirt particles, and if it goes below the window seal and upto the end of the glass.

GT17V

It's Huper Optik (not hooper)