Smoked tail lights VHT

[renaldo0613]

Hello everyone. I'm very new to this forumn, but I'm not new to infiniti. Lots of information on in here I must say. I currently own a 2012 M37X with the tech, and premium package. I love it!! Prior to that I had a 97 Q45, 2003 I35, 2007 M35 sport, and now the M37X.

Okay enough of that. I recently smoked my tail lights and wanted to share my work, I'm really proud of it this time lol. In the past I was horrible, trail and error.

[ssmrico]

in for pics and hello

[Debonair]

No! I can't stand smoked tailights. And I hate driving behind cars that have them. But thats just me. Oh Well. Glad they came out good and am happy to hear you're proud of them. Wheres the pics?

[EdBwoy]

Lol ^^
I like smoked taillights. I perceive them as safer. You see a dark-ish lens, then it turns red or yellow. Got it.
A 2004 Nissan Maxima with the all-red taillights and reflective lens, doesn't communicate much to me. It looks like the lights are always on.

However, I prefer film to spray.

So yeah, pics man!

[TomL5]

Hello and +1 for pics!

If I remember right the VHT spray had the distinction of not blocking as much of the light coming from the tail lights as a regular tint film, right? Or as I thinking of something else that had that property?

[EdBwoy]

You might be right. I just know I've used it once and I thought it was too light, did it on a different car and it was too dark - barely visible in daylight. And I will accept full blame for user error here, hehe.

Next car, I told my tint guy what I wanted and he used some new stuff (new to him, 7-8 years ago) he had a scrap piece of. I could tell and he confirmed it wasn't regular window tint, but maybe vinyl overlay?

[ssmrico]

pics don't show for me wth

[Larz]

VHT is a great product ... but ... you have to know the tricks to get a great outcome. Check out the videos DIYs on You Tube.
The surface MUST be prepped properly,
You must remove the tail light to do it properly and super darken the outer edges. Luckily our tail lights are a breeze to remove!
You must spray it evenly from one side to the other about 10-12 inches from the surface and allow 20min between coats
You have to remember that each coat will darken, 2 -3 coats looks great, but more coats might end up blacking them out.
If you mess up. simply spray or wipe with "Goof-Off' and the VH1 runs right off completely - then start over.
After you are satisfied, the lens must be sanded, then clear coated, then let the clear coat cure and sand again, then compound to a deep shine.
Below are the 2 videos I followed. Video#1 - tinting and video#2 - clear coating
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If you check my pics in my sig (2007 M) you will see how you can customize your tails.

[Debonair]

I like smoked taillights. I perceive them as safer. You see a dark-ish lens, then it turns red or yellow. Got it.

More contrast? Yes. Brighter, easier to see (safer)? No. Adding tint of any kind other than clear will take away some of the light output and therefore make them more difficult to see. How much more difficult and how much more unsafe varies of course. I alway wonder how they could affect an otherwise straightforward rear-end accident court case considering they are no longer DOT approved after being modified.

But I never mentioned safety or legality for that matter as the reason for my dislike. I just don't like the way they look.

Renaldo0613, where's our pictures?

[EdBwoy]

Fair points Debonair.
I still think the contrast is more practical though, seeing how many cars come with OEM tails that don't make sense to me. As long as the tinting isn't overdone like that 2nd car I mentioned above.
+Old Pontiac Grand prix tinted tails - not pretty, but DOT approved & EdBwoy approved for practicality
+Chevy SS tinted tails - pure sex. But I'm biased here

For rear end collisions, that would be interesting to see in court. What if my bulb went out after I got on the road? How about if my brake lights have failed constantly on, or my entire OEM lens looks bright red in sunlight?
I think most jurisdictions place responsibility squarely on the driver behind. You should keep enough distance to react to road conditions ahead of you safely.

But hey, take my opinions with a generous dash of salt. My invitation to serve as an expert forensic witness, just like my invitation to Mensa a few years ago, got lost in the mail.



You guys can't see the pics?

[Debonair]

For rear end collisions, that would be interesting to see in court. What if my bulb went out after I got on the road? How about if my brake lights have failed constantly on, or my entire OEM lens looks bright red in sunlight?
I think most jurisdictions place responsibility squarely on the driver behind. You should keep enough distance to react to road conditions ahead of you safely.

You could argue that the bulb went out and/or the taillights failed as a result of the accident, or it was the sun. You will not be able to argue that the accident painted your taillights black. Plus there are more than one bulb in the brake system so one bulb does not automatically make you harder to see like tint.

I agree with the law siding with the front vehicle, and the officer on the scene and/or insurance generally rule based on the law. That said if it goes to a judge, he/she can rule with who has the best case within the law. Painting the taillights could be ruled as negligent which can end up being expensive and life changing.

Plus I still think they generally look bad.

[Larz]

I could not agree more! If you check my pics on my 2007, you will see a beautiful dark cherry color but the lights are nearly the same as far as visibility in daylight or night light. I see so many cars (especially black cars) with the tail lamps so dark they look like part of the black body - even covering the reverse lights. There is a law regarding tail lamps which sets a minimum distance from where the tail lights must be totally visible and I'm sure those blacked out tail lights are both illegal and extremely dangerous. Covering the reverse lamps is sooo not smart. How the heck can you reverse in the dark with no reverse lamps and severely limited light form your tinted tails?
It's one thing to 'look cool' but it's quite another to place yourself in danger whilst doing it.

[renaldo0613]

Sorry for not posting any pics. I got side tracked with life LOL. And I was having trouble posting pics. Will get them up tonight or in the morning.

[renaldo0613]

Alright, finally got this thing to work



With lights turned on


With brakes applied and reverse lights


Close up driver side


Close up passenger side


This is 3 layers of VHT, along with 5 layers of clear. I wanna say roughly 20-25mins between each coating. You can still see these lights nice and easy during the day time. Those photos were taken with direct sunlight on them. I was unable to remove the middle lights, but got the outter light assemblies off with a breeze. Thoughts? Comments? All welcome!

[mikedamageinc]

Should have taped closer to the reverse lights, the red outline looks a little sloppy. Also need more sanding/polishing before and after the clear coat. Just my overly critical thoughts, to the casual observer, not bad.

[renaldo0613]

Should have taped closer to the reverse lights, the red outline looks a little sloppy. Also need more sanding/polishing before and after the clear coat. Just my overly critical thoughts, to the casual observer, not bad.

Thanks. Yeah I noticed the taping. The out should have seen my first time on my older car lol. I didn't polish them at all. Just sanded, cleaned and sprayed. I saw so many different inputs on polishing them.

[mikedamageinc]

Polishing isn't that hard, just start with something like 400 grit lightly, then possibly another VHT coat if too much comes off, 800 grit, some clear, work your way from 1000 to 2000 grit wet and finish with a liquid polish. Each grit and how much depends on how the coats come out so it's hard to say exactly, just have to evaluate each time.