Sunbreakers

I want to thank all of you good folks in this forum for the tips and suggestions...I had my first one of these to do today. I was ready and willing to completely disassemble the rear of the car to make this one a success. A good friend of mine sent me a 17 minute long video of the disassembly process...I watched it and then another video comes up with a guy from Detroit who mentions he is going to give it a try without disassembly. His cutting software suggests that he plot the window, place it on the car and shrink everything from the wiper and above at the top of the window, then slide it up and shrink the bottom. Place it on the inside and you are good to go...well the first attempt didn't work well for him so he tried again this time not peeling the film and shrinking the bottom on the inside of the window first...Here is the link to that video: 
 
I tried this method and worked like a charm the first time...no waste, no disassembly, no headaches. Done in about 30 min. Some of you here mentioned the same approach or some form of it...I am grateful for your help as always. 
 

I started with Tinttek and loved them.....then I hated them. Let me explain...their customer service is top notch. Cindy Wayne gave me her personal cell number and helped me set up my plotter after hours during her drive home. Unfortunately customer service does not work in the pattern department. In one week I did a Jeep Wrangler front windshield which the pattern was about an inch too short at the bottom. Couple of days later I did 4 police Tahoes and all of the rear door windows were cut at an angle and short on one side at the bottom. I called and pointed out these issues with the promise they would be looked into. About two months later I did another Tahoe....same problem. Then shortly after the same problem with the Jeep windshield. I called back and it was..."we don´t work in that dept. but will let them know...we have had problems." I decided to change right then and moved over to Film Designs. I also subscribe to Llumar´s Precision Cut. That way I always am guaranteed to have what I need if one system doesn´t have a particular pattern. Happens a lot with windshields. Film Designs is a great system. You should call and talk to Brittany or Brett. They are great folks. 
As far as plotters, I would definitely use Sign Warehouse. I would recommend the Vinyl Express Q series. I have two of the 42" plotters and one of the 64". These machines are generic versions of the Graphtec FC8600 and even come with the Graphtec manuals and blade holders and blades. I have a contact there who will absolutely give you the best price. Just let me know if you are interested and I can give you her contact info. Hope this helps and if you have any questions let me know. This part of the process can be a bit scary, but after 30 years of hand cutting I would never go back to it after using a plotter. 
 

@Bham It was good to get to stop for a visit today. Told you I would try to make it more frequent .  I wish I had read your post above before I stopped by. I would have told you in person what I will type to you now.
In life I have learned that for every one or two good decisions you make there is bound to be a bad one. Not hiring you back in the 90's was a terrible decision on my part and an oversight that I should not have allowed to happen. I wasn't willing to give you a chance, didn't think you had the drive for it, and I let other folks influence my decisions when I should have at least given you an opportunity. You have proved me wrong many times...you have certainly been driven and you have achieved my achievements...your own shop. That one mistake of mine not only was very obviously my loss, but it also alienated us from each other and put a strain on our friendship maybe even still today. In front of all of these good, professional folks here on this forum, Jason,  I want you to know I am very sorry. I hope others here can learn from my mistake and always be willing to take a chance on others. I am very proud of you for what you have achieved. 
 
Charley 

I have heard that years ago maybe a distributor reboxed film as Global and it was what turned purple? We have been using global for several years now with zero issues. 
 

We took CTX out of the lineup and show off ATC and IRX with the heat box. If they ask then we pull the CTX glass out of a drawer and put it in there for them. Then they ignore the ATC and it is a chess game with CTX and IRX. We tell them that for $--- more they are getting a noticeable  benefit with the IRX. The upgrade is much smaller than the jump from ATC to CTX so you might as well go a step further if you are going to do it....Works 90% of the time...and yes, my percentage of upgrades has increased since my previous post. LOL!!
 
Basically same sales pitch @DynamicATL does. 

We show all customers the display board and then let them feel the difference between 5% dyed and 35% IRX with the heat lamp box. At least 75% go with IRX and the rest usually drop down to the "mid-grade" which is either CTX or QDPC. We do very little dyed anymore at retail level with most of it usually at dealer level now. 

We show all customers the display board and then let them feel the difference between 5% dyed and 35% IRX with the heat lamp box. At least 75% go with IRX and the rest usually drop down to the "mid-grade" which is either CTX or QDPC. We do very little dyed anymore at retail level with most of it usually at dealer level now. 

@Bham sorry I haven’t gotten back to you. I will take a picture of one of my sample boards and let you see some numbers if one of these folks don’t beat me to it. This film feels very “Global like” which the rep did not appreciate very much. It is thicker as @no ma'am said, stickier and better scratch coat. I have long been critical of CTX and even though the engineers at Llumar assured me when I visited that all films have same adhesive it did not feel the same. This film corrects that. I think we were the first to get it in Alabama. Picked it up in June prior to showing up in the catalogs and it has been wonderful for us. Just wish they had a 25 or 20% 

Another big helping factor is squeegeeing the window twice. That makes a big difference. 

Here is the Ram Promaster with the following options: 
Onan 2800 watt generator
10'k btu A/C with heat 
LED strip lights
Lithium ION Vehicle Batteries w/4000 watt Inverter
Panasonic Toughbook CF-31 running Tinttek, Film Designs, and Llumar Precision Cut
Vinyl Express Q42
Linex Spray liner
Flooring kit walls and ceiling
Front partition w/Divider
 

Thanks, @highplains. I found the thread where info and pics are posted. @IPATinting pm me if you have any questions. I have plotters in both a promaster and a Freightliner mt45 so there are pics of two different vehicles. 
 
 

Another big helping factor is squeegeeing the window twice. That makes a big difference. 

I would have to respectfully disagree. While a factory tinted window is indeed already shaded, that does not translate to energy efficiency as the heat rejection can be very poor given that perhaps not all but many vehicles have no UV properties in that coating other than the minimum required by federal statutes for automobile glass. My customers are very very content to have me use a very light ceramic film in the rear of the vehicle and find, as I have  personally experienced, that it makes a big difference on heat rejection without adding much darkness to what is there. An 80-50% film is a very noticeable improvement and is a market we can honestly serve. 

This philosophy would seem to come dangerously close to negating what I do for a living...what we all do..... as we would only be left with those customers who want to darken their windows..they already have the benefit of such "efficient" UV and SHG rejection as to negate window film in it´s current state for vehicles it would seem. We progressed past the 80´s and 90´s era of the typical scenario where darkness was almost the only determinate of performance to where we are now mostly due to the need for better performance. It is true that glass has become more efficient, but we need to realize that these films today are where they are because we and our customers expect a much greater enhancement over oem performance as  the oems have not reached on their own where we can take them. 

This philosophy would seem to come dangerously close to negating what I do for a living...what we all do..... as we would only be left with those customers who want to darken their windows..they already have the benefit of such "efficient" UV and SHG rejection as to negate window film in it´s current state for vehicles it would seem. We progressed past the 80´s and 90´s era of the typical scenario where darkness was almost the only determinate of performance to where we are now mostly due to the need for better performance. It is true that glass has become more efficient, but we need to realize that these films today are where they are because we and our customers expect a much greater enhancement over oem performance as  the oems have not reached on their own where we can take them. 

I would have to respectfully disagree. While a factory tinted window is indeed already shaded, that does not translate to energy efficiency as the heat rejection can be very poor given that perhaps not all but many vehicles have no UV properties in that coating other than the minimum required by federal statutes for automobile glass. My customers are very very content to have me use a very light ceramic film in the rear of the vehicle and find, as I have  personally experienced, that it makes a big difference on heat rejection without adding much darkness to what is there. An 80-50% film is a very noticeable improvement and is a market we can honestly serve. 

I started with Tinttek and loved them.....then I hated them. Let me explain...their customer service is top notch. Cindy Wayne gave me her personal cell number and helped me set up my plotter after hours during her drive home. Unfortunately customer service does not work in the pattern department. In one week I did a Jeep Wrangler front windshield which the pattern was about an inch too short at the bottom. Couple of days later I did 4 police Tahoes and all of the rear door windows were cut at an angle and short on one side at the bottom. I called and pointed out these issues with the promise they would be looked into. About two months later I did another Tahoe....same problem. Then shortly after the same problem with the Jeep windshield. I called back and it was..."we don´t work in that dept. but will let them know...we have had problems." I decided to change right then and moved over to Film Designs. I also subscribe to Llumar´s Precision Cut. That way I always am guaranteed to have what I need if one system doesn´t have a particular pattern. Happens a lot with windshields. Film Designs is a great system. You should call and talk to Brittany or Brett. They are great folks. 
As far as plotters, I would definitely use Sign Warehouse. I would recommend the Vinyl Express Q series. I have two of the 42" plotters and one of the 64". These machines are generic versions of the Graphtec FC8600 and even come with the Graphtec manuals and blade holders and blades. I have a contact there who will absolutely give you the best price. Just let me know if you are interested and I can give you her contact info. Hope this helps and if you have any questions let me know. This part of the process can be a bit scary, but after 30 years of hand cutting I would never go back to it after using a plotter. 
 

Agree. ..but the truth of the matter is that the tint industry has lagged far behind the glass industry for decades. They have always been and likely always will be the red headed stepchild. While film has gotten "better" in the past 8-10 years...the OEM glass had quadrupled in advancements..thus the film biz is once again behind the curve. 
 Remember..the glass industry has HAD to improve and become pro active due to federal efficiency mandates ..they either improve or they are out of business. 
 The film industry has always been re-active...wait and see type mentality... by the time they react..it's already too late.. 
been that way for decades... nothing is going to change. 

Nevermind...Originally didn´t see this thread was now 4 years old...Moving on. 

So true about we notice more than they do....I can´t speak about the other Ice Kool VLT´s. the 80 is all that is carried by the distributor...or at least that I am aware of. The color vs. money argument is a fine line..I think we are more hung up on shade because usually cheap = awful color and you have to be careful that a customer can visualize his entire car done in a particular film..I remember we once had a discussion on this board where we were talking about film colors and someone remarked that their ideal coloration is a "grey" Turns out Llumar has exactly that coloration across most of their shades and lines. Global to me had a more "bronzy" look across the line except for the QDP 15 and 4% which are very different colors from the rest and the 70 and 80 percentages. I have friends who use solar guard and ASWF and their complaint is the 5% is either purple or blue. I even had a friend come and get some global 4% from me to redo an entire car simply because the customer did not like solar guard 5% and they demanded it be changed...Not sure I would be willing to go that far for an illegal shade, but to each his own. 

I do the modified hybrid wipe.  
 
Paper towel and finger wipe in one pass, less lint & debris on the squeeg.  

@Apex TintDo you find customers tend to complain about the color of the QDPC 70%? I have it on my sample board along with all the other Global shades and it almost appears to have a greenish hue or even a "Kakhi" color as some have called it. I have a hard time selling it because of the coloration I find at times. Just curious about your experience. 
 

The 80% Ice Kool is definitely a LLumar Air 80 cousin. Looks blue like the llumar..thicker..but very similar...Strangely I find it to be a little less "sticky" than the the QDP but am told its my imagination. It is definitely a little more blue than the llumar. 
 
I think the QDP 70% is great to have available and looks good once installed without being able to really notice the coloration...just like the blue 80% films...but for some reason people are discouraged more so it seems. 
 

My vote would be to actually tint the side front door windows to something more reasonable. 2x 15% is just simply irresponsible and unsafe as that would be darker than even 5% and while it might look "cool" it is these types of installs that attract more attention to all of us who tint and/or have it. At that darkness the cops are going to notice, as they should, anything on the windshield as that contributes to the whole package. 

My vote would be to actually tint the side front door windows to something more reasonable. 2x 15% is just simply irresponsible and unsafe as that would be darker than even 5% and while it might look "cool" it is these types of installs that attract more attention to all of us who tint and/or have it. At that darkness the cops are going to notice, as they should, anything on the windshield as that contributes to the whole package.