Factory smoked glass

July 17, 2004

Do they reject any heat or the uv rays. I personally think that it is just colored glass that adds no heat protection on blocking the uv rays. Will it keep the interior from fading. I have seen different things mentioned on this site about this topic and wanted the ups and downs. I have tried to sell my customers on tinting over the factory smoke to give them more protection but they say to just do the front two and it will be fine. I want to educate my customers as much as possible. I also bought a tahoe with smoked glass and have contemplated installing 50% on the rears to block the heat and sun if it will definately help. Any pointers will be appreciated

July 17, 2004

yes it will help!

educate your customers, not sure what it rejects but it's not much I can tell you that first hand!

wndotint · July 17, 2004

Ask them how they would feel if they got into an accident and the people in the backseat were now unrecognizable due to glass cuts all over their bodies, especially if they have kids.

As for your Tahoe, the back windows would have been tinted before I went to sleep the first night I had it. The day I bought my wife a Honda Odyssey, I tinted the whole thing THAT NIGHT.

July 17, 2004

What % did you put over the honda?? I had forgotten to mention to customers about the safety issues on glass breakage.

July 17, 2004

Yes, the smoked glass takes out 'some' heat and UV, however not as much as window film can given the performance of the film used.

50% would be a good addition to the smoked glass in that it will boost performance, screen much more UV and help retain glass fragments in the event it were to break. Any darker than 50 and you begin to affect night time visibility.

July 18, 2004

I want to educate my customers as much as possible.

:beer dude, they don't give a damn. you can try an educate them all you want, fact is they don't care. you're a minimum wage tinter--what the hell do you know. I quit giving my spill, nobody ever does it. whenever I tell them all the benefits, they usually act like they want me to hurry up and just tint the fronts so they can get out.

it doesn't help either that car dealers tell them it's already tinted and they don't have to go have it tinted. and yes, I know of car dealers using this line as a selling point. :beer

RICHat22 · July 18, 2004

Although TTS seems to have a bad attitude tonight :beer I have to agree with him. People don't care about safety until it happens to them. Otherwise we would be selling 100 times what we do. I boosted my prices up on driver and passengers for that reason alone. They won't spend 250 to tint a tahoe but they'll spend 90 to get the front two done. Take what you can, make a quick mention, and ride on. They will think about it later and decide on it and come back.

When they come in they typically are set on spending the low bucks. Especially if they just bought it. They will come back if they change their mind. Assuming you don't ass up their front two :beer

July 18, 2004

Usually people who have small children riding in the rear will be concerned about safety, comfort, etc. That is usually the reason why they get tinting. It is true that the majority don't think they need tint over the factory smoked glass but some do.

I purchased a new 2003 Honda Pilot for my wife last year and it came with factory smoked glass. My kids are proof that the factory smoked glass does not reduce heat because they told me that it was really hot in the Pilot compared to any of my other vehicles that they ride in. I should have stuck a BTU meter to it to see how much heat comes through but didn't. Will probably do so with the next Pilot I get in to see what it registers.

To make a long story short, I ended up applying Huper Optik ceramic 30% on the rear 3 windows, 40% on the 2 rear doors and 50% on the 2 front doors and now we are one happy family. Sometimes the kids complain it is too cold when the ac is on. :beer :beer

July 18, 2004

that looks good on the pilot. I think that when I tint my tahoe I may just go with johnson 35 on all the back windows. I wonder why some suvs came with privacy glass that looks almost 5% and some that is about 12 %. Seems that if the manu can install this factory glass then we should also be able to install tint that dark.

July 18, 2004

Seems that if the manu can install this factory glass then we should also be able to install tint that dark.

Manu's are regulated on the Federal level and aftermarket tint installs are regulated at the State level.

If all were equal across the board, the manu's would have the upper edge by making cars with tinted glass all around, leaving the tinter in the very difficult position of explaining why film should be added to already smoked glass.

Industry as a whole works hard to keep the Federal out of this issue. It's what keeps us all working.