It cost me $225 to do the front two windows and the eyebrow. The shop had 4 levels, the top was ceramic that blocks the heat out too. I opted for the next one down I believe it was Carbon of some sort. Lifetime warranty and my tint is at 35%. Outside of the truck they can still see you but that is as dark as I was willing to go.

 

I've always been curious about that. Is it cheap tint, or that tint and heating elements don't mix? I would think even expensive tint would struggle in freezing winters when they suddenly have direct heat applied from the wires. I thought most good shops won't even go tint over defrost wires.

 

If a tint has a REALLY cheap adhesive, it might struggle to remain adhered. Personally, I've never seen a tint that cheap, have installed a number of super cheap tints, just speculating it could exist.

All of the bad tint jobs I've seen were applied by novices, and in almost every case their main issue was failure to take into account that the films have very limited flex in more than one axis.

My last tint job was on my '95 SHO, applied in 1999. The 3M tint I applied over the rear window was never affected by the defrost in the 19 years I owned the car. I can imagine that a heat source like a defrost line could eventually cause the adhesive to embrittle, but I don't think they actually get very hot. They only need to warm the glass above 32ºF to remove any frost or ice. I would think the glass gets hotter during the summer, when you can burn your hand placing it on glass in direct sunlight in the middle of a hot day. Ever burn your hand on a defrosting window? I know the front window is still cold to the touch when the ice starts coming off.

 

Factory levels measure front 78, rear 20. So the front does have tint from the factory, not clear.

 

could you post a side profile shot?

 

A good tint person who uses quality materials (like my guy) and shrinks the tint properly will not effect the defroster. I have had all my cars tinted and use the defroster regularly in winter and have never had any issues.

 

Just for clarification for the debate of whether or not the front has any tint from factory, this info is right on the lower corner of your window. As I previously stated, 70% VLT per the 6th line. I took this picture from the inside since I have 5% film and reading it from the outside is nearly impossible.

 

That's awesome I'll check my 2016 there. So if 35% is legal in MA, and it comes with 70% stock, ideally what would % would I want to put on to keep it legal?

 

50% film would put you right at the legal limit, I believe.

 

I'd wager $ that a meter placed on the factory windshield would show an actual VLT far greater than the 70% minimum it is tagged for

35% is exactly 50% of 70%. So a 70% stacked with a 50% is theoretically exactly 35%