3M Color Stable CS50 Window Tint

Just got the front windows done today. 20 minutes while I waited. Color match to the rear is perfect and it's legal. Can't believe I waited this long.

Looks good, but the front windows look slightly lighter than your rear windows to me. How is it legal? Is it under the percentage that is allowed? Don't know if every state is different, but here in CA, that doesn't look legal to me...

LekRap said:

Looks good, but the front windows look slightly lighter than your rear windows to me. How is it legal? Is it under the percentage that is allowed? Don't know if every state is different, but here in CA, that doesn't look legal to me...

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It's not only state-specific, but municipality-specific also. In Wake County, the front windows cannot be darker than 35%. These test at about 37%, so they're just over the legal limit. The rear windows are about 18%. They actually test for that at our annual vehicle inspections. I've had to remove tint before just to pass inspection.

I just wanted the color to match the rear windows. I knew the shade would be lighter because of the legal limits.

Ah, I get it @Taxman! Looks real nice for being legal! Like 2014 Ruby Red said, there is something about a white truck and dark windows! Only thing as good is a black truck with black windows! Hehe. The wife SUV is white with black windows and wheels and I have to say that the white with black accents is a sweet and very clean combo!

Thanks guys. I'm thinking of putting a matte black hood and roof wrap later this year. I'm thinking of covering the entire hood up to the fenders and the entire roof, up to the rain gutter.

I like that idea @Taxman. Will look awesome!

Here in MA the limit is also 35%. I came in at 32%, and even though I had gotten inspections at this garage 3 times since installing the tint, they would not pass it. Solution: I took it across the street and that guy didn't even check the windows.

My coworker has tint which is even darker, on his Titian. It is so dark that you can not see in at all. He has passed the state inspection for 3 years, by just simply rolling down the windows during the inspection. This isn't a big deal here, appearantly.

It's become a bigger deal here in the past 5 years or so. Most inspection facilities will check, but there are some that won't. Either way, I find it difficult to see at night with really dark tints, so I'm totally fine with the tints I had installed. It has a high reflectivity rating, so during the day, it's really difficult to see inside, but at night, they're almost clear. It's really cool and the color of the tint matches the rear really well.

I hate to bear bad news, but factory glass have a certain percentage built into them. If you added 20% on top of that, they would measure under 20%. My guess is they put 40% on them and reason why they measured 37%.

If they put 20% on them, they'd be identical (or damn near) to the rear windows. I ran 20% on mine for a couple years on the truck (and numerous other vehicles) because it's a good tint percentage to roll with. Not quite dark enough for cops to mess with you, but not light enough people can easily see in.

That being said, I have 20% on my fronts. Then had 5% wrapped over them and rear/back windows. I've (knock on wood) never had issues with cops yet, but I've ran same setup on the TrailBlazer SS... City cop measured 0%, while state police measured %1. To pass inspections here, it's a red flag if you roll up to an inspection station with windows down unless you know someone. But we do have 2yr inspections finally. I didn't have a hook up in Jan, so I had to peel it off.... Got it inspected, drove straight to my buddy and had the 20% front + 5% wrap done for $100.