Does anyone know how to tint headlights / tail lights?

[Casutherland42]

Hey guys, I am trying to figure out how to tint my headlights and tail lights on my 2000 nissan pathfinder. Can anyone lead me in the right direction? Is it something that I can easily so myself?

[Alfredo24.pr]

Takes some time if you suck like me. A friend helped me out on the install. Took about 40 minutes per tail light :/

If you dont want to waste time and effort just go to a tint shop and they will do it for about $40.






Also, for the headlights I only did the corners to cover the orange spot which was super easy. Took like 3 minutes per corner.

[jbracy7]

U like being slamed into,u must love geting rearended

[jsj387]

If you aren't afraid to pull and spray the ligts or light covers yourself, you can use Nightshades (google tint head/tails w Nightshades). This way is permanent so take your time and do it right or you will be looking for some replacements.
The other option is to do head/tail light vinyl overlays. They usually come precut (many color/tint options) and go on with minimal hassle.

If it's possible, choose aroute that lets you roll safe and legal.

[zach7685]

VLT Nite Shades Not permanent But not water soluble it will take gas to get it off. On a scale of 1-10 I'd say its a 2 Hardest part is tapeing off the white parts (If you Desire) (Which I recommend) and waiting for it to dry. I applied to outside i don't know how Alfredo24.pr did his but it took me 40 Min Both Sides with same results. Hint: Drys Darker than you think . Hint 2 If you get runs don't worry its very thin and easy to fix/respray when wet.
Finally on a visibility standpoint its not too bad iv yet to be hit but iv been rear ended twice without them on go figure My next lighting upgrade will be these http://youtu.be/UOX0Rtpq5O4Good Luck!

[skiski329]

I never used spray. But for my coupe i did the front headlights with vinyl tint. basically you get a sheet of tint and choose what % dark (you can always layer over if you want darker) trim it to be workable but make sure you have enough material to cover the whole section you want, or you cut out the pattern you want and trim the extra after your done. remove the adhesive side, get a spong and some soapy water, spong on the soapy water to the sticky side (you can put a bit on the head lamp too, but don't go crazy it will take longer to dry), make sure the headlamp is clean cuz you will lock in that dirt. heat up the headlamp a bit by blowdrying or using a heat gun (nothing crazy just about 15 to 30 seconds,just to warm it up a bit so when you put the adhesive side it will start to activate and stick) place the vinyl tint on the headlamp and the soapy solution will let you fine tune and adjust any pattern you have cut out or let you make sure you have it all covered. based on the amount of solution you use will determine the amount of time you have to move it without it starting to stick. now here is the important part, start at the MIDDLE! of the light and use a credit card or something simular that won't scratch up the headlamps or the vinyl to press out all the air bubbles and excess solution. it helps if when you spong on the solution you do it gently so that the solution is on there but not making a ton of bubbles. Now take the blowdryer and heat up the vinyl starting at the middle and get it nice and warm to activate the adhesive and it should also make the vinyl more stretchy, this will allow you to pull excess vinyl over the corners. if you have a weird corner then head it up and it will give you more play in that area to pull it over and you can pull it in the direction you need. now let it sit for a bit and cool off. then trim the excess material on the sides and install. now let's say you pop them in and a week later you see you missed a giant bubble. well no problem, get a pin or needle, poke it just to break through the surface, use the credit card to press out the air through that pin hole and heat it up with the blowdryer or heat gun. this will activate the glue in that area and seal up that tiny hole.
I'm glad i used vinyl because it's very forgiving if you start to mess up you can heat up that area and stretch it out to fix it. and if it gets really bad then you can just pull it off the headlamp and start over.
the biggest benefit for me was, when i was sick of the negative attention i was getting for having the tints. So i simply pulled them off with some heat and goo gone. no marks were left.