Tinted Tails- A few questions

[01silvapathy]

Okay so im pretty sure Im going to be tinting my tails tomorrow cause im bored and it seems to be an easy mod. For those of you who have done it, I have a question or two for ya.

1. How many coats did yall use? Im going to be using that VHT Niteshades spray tint, and I dont want them to be pure black just like a nice smoke to them, still able to see the reflectors somewhat.

2. The weird stripe that goes around the outer edge of the tail, the red plastic not the see through just the weird off tint red stripe- does it smoke along with the tail light or does it look weird if you dont tint it enough ending up with a weird look to it?

Here is the write up I am following from an Xterra forum, im going to go for a look that is like maybe a shade or two darker than how his turned out.

http://www.thenewx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=28915

Thanks for any help

[Pwnin O'Brien]

That xterra tutorial is pretty spot on. I would follow that exactly as it is written. Just make sure the first coats are light so you can carefully control the darkness. Be careful with how many coats you use, you will most likely end up tinting them more than you want so make sure you stop before they are too dark.

As for the red strip around the perimeter of the lamp, when you sand the lamp that strip will sand off and will start exposing the red transparent plastic underneath, I recommend removing the red paint around both lamps, it just gives a more uniform look. I highly recommend clear coating the lamps for a good finish, just the Niteshades alone will become dull over time but a clear coat will ensure a nice finish for a long time.

[01silvapathy]

Yeah pretty much every place I looked online recommended going with atleast 5 coats of clear. I guess I will just have to eye it and guess when its dark enough but not too too dark. Thanks for the tips, I will be sure to sand down that strip enough so that it looks uniform.

[Innovazn]

Yeah pretty much every place I looked online recommended going with atleast 5 coats of clear. I guess I will just have to eye it and guess when its dark enough but not too too dark. Thanks for the tips, I will be sure to sand down that strip enough so that it looks uniform.

move quick maintain distance and keep the tails stationary. all those come into factor if you move too slow you could flood it, if the distance you spray is changed it can cause difference in shades and flooding, moving it around before it dries can also flood it and youll ruin it.

[Empty V]

move quick maintain distance and keep the tails stationary. all those come into factor if you move too slow you could flood it, if the distance you spray is changed it can cause difference in shades and flooding, moving it around before it dries can also flood it and youll ruin it.

So don't mount the tail assemblies to a gimbal while spraying them? How about doing it in the back of a moving pickup on the freeway?

[fueler]

dont do it silvapathy! Stock tails are so clean, don't go rice on us!!

You'll kill their value too... Stock tails are worth $100 a pair (used) painted tails are not even worth $20... think about it

[Pwnin O'Brien]

Yeah, I'm kinda with fueler (not on the rice part, tho). I thought it would look cool having tinted tails on my silver pathy, but I was wrong. Plus, the tinting diminished the light output too much during the day (of course I got a little carried away and tinted them waaaaaaayyyy too much). Here's my old tails...



I do think tinted tails would look pretty sweet on a black pathy though.

[fueler]

yeah i like the way tinted tails look on black sports cars, it doesnt quite fit on pathfinder thos (in my opinion)

[fueler]

and remember... opinions are like buttholes... they all stink (except for mine!)

[01silvapathy]

Yeah well I attempted and failed pretty hard today to tint my own windows. I got so pissed I wanted to punch a baby and throw puppies in a wood chipper. The stupid film was a waste of my time and 30 bucks for the stuff. Im going to have them professionally done here in an hour or so, got a place that can do it for 58 bucks with a warranty even if you tear it they will replace it free of charge the first time So Im thinking that when im bored later tonight im going to attempt to put some of the left over tint from my failed job onto my tails, worse comes to worse I just take it off with some heat and goo gone. Its 20% tint so we will see how it goes I will post up pics of what happens.

[fueler]

yeah i tried tinting my own windows when i was a teenager. it was a disaster and a waste of tint. i ended up throwing everything away. Meanwhile, people on the internet say its easy you just need patience. YEAH RIGHT. you need years of experience.....

Its worth it to pay a professional.

[naladude911]

I have 2 2001 QX4 taillights for sale which are tinted. They will fit your car if you dont care about the reverse lense.

[Empty V]

I have 2 2001 QX4 taillights for sale which are tinted. They will fit your car if you dont care about the reverse lense.

Are you really trying to sell your completely blacked out tails in a thread where everyone is saying don't tint? You are a walking face palm my friend.

[Empty V]

got a place that can do it for 58 bucks with a warranty...

That's extremely cheap. Tinting also help protect your interior from fading and cracking but only if it's got a UV blocker in the film.

Billy

[01silvapathy]

Just got back from having them tinted, they did it in 25 minutes and it was 60.48 with tax It looks great but I cant roll down my windows for 3-5 days Oh well that allows me to show off the new tint! I will put up pics later after I attempt to tint the tails with the left over window tint lol

[01silvapathy]

Okay so here are the pics.

Stock tint


TInted with 30%



I also tinted my factory fogs with the left over 20% window film I had from this mornings mess

Stock fogs


Tinted w/20% Window Film

[Empty V]

The windows look like they match really well. I'm not a fan of the tinted fogs as none of the other lights are tinted. Regardless they look like they're done well, nice work Andrew!

Billy

[fueler]

wow, Silva! that looks really good! they matched it up damn well.

That's what i call a "drivers tint".... perfect for the real driver. Not too dark, you can still see all around 360 degrees, and its enough to help cool down the interior and keep your eyes healthy. (i have a friends who drives for a living AND as a hobby, no tints & didnt wear sunglasses and now he has vision problems)

i also tried getting my Q's tint matched like that back in the day, they gave me mirror tint when i specifically told them before that i want it to match and that i HATE mirror tint.... if you only knew what kind of drama evolved from that situation.....you wouldnt believe me if i told you. Be happy ur tint matches!

[Empty V]

wow, Silva! that looks really good! they matched it up damn well.

That's what i call a "drivers tint".... perfect for the real driver. Not too dark, you can still see all around 360 degrees, and its enough to help cool down the interior and keep your eyes healthy. (i have a friends who drives for a living AND as a hobby, no tints & didnt wear sunglasses and now he has vision problems)

i also tried getting my Q's tint matched like that back in the day, they gave me mirror tint when i specifically told them before that i want it to match and that i HATE mirror tint.... if you only knew what kind of drama evolved from that situation.....you wouldnt believe me if i told you. Be happy ur tint matches!

Let's hear it bro. Horror stories are always worth the breath, just not the effort. BTW mirror tint straight up blows.

[01silvapathy]

Yeah I was pretty impressed by the job they did. I am not sure yet, but I think that I may have seen a squeege scrape on the passenger side tint im going to have to check tomorrow for sure and if its scraped go and get it re done, but otherwise im happy. And the best part about the fogs is that the cops cant do anything about it, the headlights are still stock. I attempted to put the film on the taillights, but it would be WAYY too dark, and it was a pain to put on, there were alot of fingers and stretch marks all over the place. I didnt like the look of the black anyways, glad I didnt tint them with the VHT spray paint.

[Innovazn]

move quick maintain distance and keep the tails stationary. all those come into factor if you move too slow you could flood it, if the distance you spray is changed it can cause difference in shades and flooding, moving it around before it dries can also flood it and youll ruin it.

So don't mount the tail assemblies to a gimbal while spraying them? How about doing it in the back of a moving pickup on the freeway?

and here i thought you had stopped being a prick....

[JonathanPrem]

I say tint the tail. Just black the red parts black and leave the clear. If you screw up all you need is rubbing alcohol or goo gone . Don't clear cause it makes VHT's dull. Take my word went threw 2 cans when you only need 1/2 can. Ill post my tail later on.