Ttop glass cracks when tinted myth?

[Reactor]

good morning...

for years I always heard when you tint a ttop glass expected it to crack in a couple of years, is that true?

I want to tint my ttops as dark as possible because of the hot sun and help the a/c cool better..

anyone tinted there windows long time ago and there still in crackless shape?

[84StangSVT]

I have tinted plenty of T-Tops and sunroofs over the years and never had a problem. I also checked with a good friend of mine that has professionally tinted automobiles for the past 15 years and he also has had no problems. Most of them are made of tempered glass and that is OK to tint. Most of the time if a tinted window cracks, there was a defect in the glass that eventually caused it but it wasn't the tints fault. I would think that as long as long as your tops are sound and they don't have any evidence of pre-existing defects or cracks in them, you should be good to go if you chose to tint them.

As for the myth, it started years ago when some import companies experimented with different materials (plastics/polymers) in their sunroofs and people started tinting them and they started cracking for whatever reasons so the myth started and everyone freaked out to think it included glass also.

[Reactor]

good enough for me... thanks

BTW awesome history lesson

[84StangSVT]

It's your call bud. If it was my car and the tops appeared sound, I would go for it. A lot of times the tint shops will make it sound like gloom and doom because it is not a job that they want due to the glass roofs, sunroofs and t-tops being a pain in the butt to get done and look good. It's time consuming and they don't make much off of the job.

My tint buddy said he has also come up with dumb reasons not to do the glass roofs because of them being labor intensive.

[Reactor]

Went to 2 shops today to get my Ts tinted, one shop said they will crack because the heat of the sun plus the tint will absorb the heat so much it will crack, the 2nd shop told me when they apply heat with the heat gun it mite crack,, they both said there not responsible and bla..bla..bla,, I said ok just do it,, so how much I asked.? $70 each window,, hell no!! I got my 4door tundra tinted for $80 including the 5" pce on front windshield,, trying to rip me off

you predected right,

[javdog]

I asked my buddy who tints windows and he said in 25 years he had never seen it happen, he did all my windows for $180 including my t-tops. With a timelife time warranty, if i scratch them he will replace at no cost if i get a ticket he will remove and once signed off he will re-tint at no cost.

[Ourobos]

Mine have a factory mirror type tint..

[84StangSVT]

Went to 2 shops today to get my Ts tinted, one shop said they will crack because the heat of the sun plus the tint will absorb the heat so much it will crack, the 2nd shop told me when they apply heat with the heat gun it mite crack,, they both said there not responsible and bla..bla..bla,, I said ok just do it,, so how much I asked.? $70 each window,, hell no!! I got my 4door tundra tinted for $80 including the 5" pce on front windshield,, trying to rip me off

you predected right,

Sorry to hear that but more times than not, shops don't want that work. It's sad that they resort to saying you can't tint them due to them cracking when in fact the 99% of glass for the t-tops are made of the same glass the side windows are. They never say anything about tint holding heat on the side windows and causing them to crack.

Good luck in your search for a shop that will do it at a reasonable cost.

[grabbergreen84]

sunroofs and t-tops being a pain in the butt to get done and look good. It's time consuming and they don't make much off of the job.

I would think that they'ed be the easiest parts to tint. Lay them on the work bench and go to town...

[84StangSVT]

I would think that they'ed be the easiest parts to tint. Lay them on the work bench and go to town...

I thought that too until I did a couple, they really are a pain and mostly because they like to move around and its hard to brace them securely to keep them from moving while you install the tint. Ever try to firmly squeegee a moving object.....things roll around like a ball LOL!

[vintageracer]

Myth!

[javdog]

I would think that they'ed be the easiest parts to tint. Lay them on the work bench and go to town...

Crazy cause that's how my buddy did it, he removed them then he laid them on his work bench, literally took him 10 min each. What a shame good luck finding someone to do it. Or just do the tops yourself Im sure you can find lots of how to's on Youtube

[rob342]

so how much I asked.? $70 each window,, hell no!!

i'd pay that. i wouldn't want a tinter do a crappy job done with cheap film. i'd rather pay the $80 making it clear i expect them to use good film and do a good job.

i make signs and i'm debating expanding into non-vehicle tinting. i'm only planning to use the best films money can buy because i do good work. if it isn't perfect i'll yank it off and redo it. customers that come in crying about wanting the cheapest sign i can make generally get sub par work. i get so much of it lately i wont even measure, i know i can eyeball it better than they can see anyways. i don't even put transfer tape on the vinyl before applying it. saves me money so who cares if it scratches it. then i hope they don't come back. i dont want cheap customers because as i stated earlier, i prefer to do nice work. i hate doing cheap crap, i hate spending a lot of time doing cheap crap, and i hate losing business because customers want cheap crap. oddly since i've started seeing how many corners i can cut, i have never ahd a complaint yet. at the same time i will measure the vinyl on a decent customers vehicle to 1/64th of an inch and if any lettering gets damaged i usually fix it for free because i see how happy it makes them.

you can try it with the plastic junk called tint they sell at the parts store. the tint i see on a professional level ranges from under $1 to ~$6 per SF. so figure a 2x3 piece, 6sf per window. if they're spending 36 and using the best film(which i'd want on my t-tops that bake in the sun), they deserve the 34 per side for putting it on. if they screw up the first piece being a perfectionist like me and end up ripping it off to redo it, that means they'll make $52 total for tinting your t-tops factoring in the waste from the redo. if you find a shop doing it for $40 a side, you pretty much know you're getting the cheap $1/sf tint that is going to crack, shrink, peel, bubble, scratch, discolor, etc. because there's no possible way they are using good material and giving you a low price.

not trying to sound like a crab, just a realistic perspective from a business standpoint.

[Reactor]

i agree... good quality work at a cheap price will probably end up being a crappy job or a good job with cheap materials ... you get what you pay for is very true... but the $70 per window is not the problem.. my problem is they did my 4 door pick up truck for $80, thats 4 big windows, medium back window and the 5" pce for the front windshield, thats a whole lot of windows for $80 vs $140 for two removable windows that are easy to rotate as you please.. its not about money spending its about them trying to pull a fast one and make some money on two windows for the price of what they'll charge for a whole truck..

[Reactor]

finally got someone to tint my ttop in a reasonable price, life time warranty too.. ttop 5% rest of car 15%... such a big difference I will recommend anyone if you dont have your ttops tinted do it... youll love it

[84StangSVT]

That looks great!

[webestang]

finally got someone to tint my ttop in a reasonable price, life time warranty too.. ttop 5% rest of car 15%... such a big difference I will recommend anyone if you dont have your ttops tinted do it... youll love it

That is way sweet! I have to get my 85 notch done now that I see this ride......

[HotNotch]

Tinted mine on the beater myself with 2.5%, made such a nice difference.

[Reactor]

thanks guys.. good or bad comments are always welcome

almost no sunlight gos through the Ts, i sometimes forget i have Ts, but then the rattling reminds me lol

[roadkill]

finally got someone to tint my ttop in a reasonable price, life time warranty too.. ttop 5% rest of car 15%... such a big difference I will recommend anyone if you dont have your ttops tinted do it... youll love it

Whoa..... nice ride!!!