Offroad Trailblazers and Envoys

Tinted Head/Tail Lights

Trailblazer and Envoy related, but not off-road related...

by mason10198 » Thu Oct 29, 2015 11:06 pm

So, just wondering what opinions you guys have about the tinted lights. Personally, I think it looks really good. Does anyone on here have theirs tinted? I've been reading about it, and it seems that a lot of people say it has little to no effect on your light output as long as you use the right stuff. I'm talking about spray-on too, by the way. Here's what I would probably use if I did this. Included 2 ex. pics I found on Google also. Any thoughts? :poke:
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by KingBird » Fri Oct 30, 2015 12:46 am

As an electrician, I'm skeptical about any film being applied to a bulb or housing with claims that it doesn't affect light output.

I mean, just think about it, even those crappy faggy blue tinted bulbs are dimmer than regular clear ones. Maybe not by much, but it could be enough to see the deer in the road in time...

That being said, I think they look awesome.
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by DirtyBacon04 » Fri Oct 30, 2015 5:42 am

As someone who isn't an electrician and is terrified of working with it.... I also think they look good, but may hinder functionality. I'm willing to bet those who claim it didn't effect light output didn't do a very scientific study. Then I'd be curious as to how long before the film burns off in spots.
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by Rickalicka18 » Fri Oct 30, 2015 7:56 am

I have tinted headlights and they do have some effect on light output thats is noticeable but not crazy noticeable. I also have led lowbeams and highbeams, so I don't really notice a big difference at night, if anything it helps dim the leds down haha. When I did have the regular halogens in you could tell it had the same distance but dimmer light. I'm assuming you won't have halogen bulbs so probably won't make that big of a difference if your using led or hid bulbs. I didn't think of tinting them though... But I also needed new headlights anyways, so I just bought the tinted headlights.. I paid $132 which doesn't seem like a bad deal to me. But anyways... Go for it! I think it looks good!
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by Rickalicka18 » Fri Oct 30, 2015 9:02 am

Here's what might looks like. The only con of the tinted headlights to me is my marker lights don't show up that great, which is now my front blinker haha... And im too stubborn to connect the blinker back up because I want it to be a daytime running light, not a white blinker. I also have my fog lights tinted. Let me know how it goes if you do spray it on youself. Because if you can see, my fog lights have a brownish tint to them and if spraying the tint on is easier and looks better then I might just buy clear fog lights and spray the tint on!
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by mason10198 » Fri Oct 30, 2015 9:21 am

DirtyBacon04 wrote:As someone who isn't an electrician and is terrified of working with it.... I also think they look good, but may hinder functionality. I'm willing to bet those who claim it didn't effect light output didn't do a very scientific study. Then I'd be curious as to how long before the film burns off in spots.

My thoughts exactly. but I'm thinking as long as I do the spray on, I can keep the "darkness" to a minimum to keep as much of my light output as possible. also, I'm sure it will wear out in places on the lens, but with all the paint chemicals I've got laying around, I can just rub it all off and respray if necessary.

Rickalicka18 wrote:Here's what might looks like. The only con of the tinted headlights to me is my marker lights don't show up that great, which is now my front blinker haha... And im too stubborn to connect the blinker back up because I want it to be a daytime running light, not a white blinker. I also have my fog lights tinted. Let me know how it goes if you do spray it on youself. Because if you can see, my fog lights have a brownish tint to them and if spraying the tint on is easier and looks better then I might just buy clear fog lights and spray the tint on!

This looks like more of what I'm aiming for. I just want the lens a bit darker, but not as dark as the average tinted headlights you'd see driving down the road. Thats why I want to spray it on myself, so I can control just how dark it gets. Thanks for the replies everyone
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by KingBird » Fri Oct 30, 2015 11:30 am

Now there's an idea! Smoke the lenses and then install brighter bulbs, that way you'll still have stock, or better, output.
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by mason10198 » Fri Oct 30, 2015 11:34 am

KingBird wrote:Now there's an idea! Smoke the lenses and then install brighter bulbs, that way you'll still have stock, or better, output.

I have HIDs in both low and high beams, but I'm sure they aren't as bright as LEDs would be...

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by Rickalicka18 » Fri Oct 30, 2015 1:15 pm

My lows and highs are 2500 lumens... I don't know what info they give for hids, but i think lumens has to do with how far the light travels? Haha so for every lumen the light has it travels a certain amount of feet. Don't take my word on that haha.. But I've found that with leds, the light isn't spread out very well, like its definitely not 360 degree light Output because the bulbs are mounted back to and theres a gap like a 1/4 of an inch between them because of the control boards so the light is 180 degrees on both sides with a gap in the middle haha. I hope. I'm that makes sense hahaha... So if there wasn't a gap between the bulbs it would be 360 degrees light output and leds would be great. But! Theres is, so there are random spots in my lights that are darker than others, still bright as hell though! So all that being said HIDs are definitely brighter because they put out the same amount of light an led can but actually have 360 degree light output and I'm sure that you have no spots with your HIDs haha. Now obviously there are pros and cons of both, I personal just wanted a long lasting bulb that didn't pull a lot of power so I got leds instead.
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by mason10198 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 3:52 am

alright, so, word of advice. DON'T DO THAT. tried using rustoleum tint and it worked great on the tail lights, but once I sprayed it on the heads I know it would be way too dark. plugged it in while it was still wet, and could barely see any light on the wall 30 yds away. ran around looking for something to get it off with before it dried on good, and the ONLY thing I could find in time was acetone. DO NOT LET ACETONE TOUCH YOUR HEADLIGHTS. I got it off fine on the driver's side, but the acetone ate right into the lens on the passenger side. looks like someone took a sandblaster to it. I'll upload a pic tomorrow. looks like I'm gonna be buying new headlight assys. smh.
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by DirtyBacon04 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 9:47 am

sorry, but I'm laughing really hard right now
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by TBYODA » Sat Oct 31, 2015 10:13 am

DirtyBacon04 wrote:sorry, but I'm laughing really hard right now

Yea someone didn't read the label.
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by KingBird » Sat Oct 31, 2015 11:05 am

Aw man, that sucks!
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by mason10198 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 1:19 pm

DirtyBacon04 wrote:sorry, but I'm laughing really hard right now

I know right. honestly I'm almost laughing myself. except I'm the one who has to buy new assys.:cry:

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by mason10198 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 1:20 pm

TBYODA wrote:
DirtyBacon04 wrote:sorry, but I'm laughing really hard right now

Yea someone didn't read the label.

No, I promise I read all of the labels. Just didn't realize how thick it was getting while I sprayed it.

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by mason10198 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 1:22 pm

the after math. looks like new head assys is going back up on the Christmas list. Image

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by Rickalicka18 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 2:46 pm

WOW... That's why I usually just buy the stuff or have backups ready. But the tailights look good! I would be willing to send you my factory headlights which are in no use.. But, I kind of used the passenger side as a "experimental" headlight :/
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by mason10198 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 3:00 pm

Rickalicka18 wrote:WOW... That's why I usually just buy the stuff or have backups ready. But the tailights look good! I would be willing to send you my factory headlights which are in no use.. But, I kind of used the passenger side as a "experimental" headlight :/

that's alright anyways, I'm probably just going to buy some that already have the "smoke"d lenses.

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by Rickalicka18 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 3:17 pm

I recommend carid.com! Thats where i got mine. Maybe a little more than ebay or other sites but i trust it more..
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by DirtyBacon04 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 3:27 pm

you try some 1000 grit sand paper and rubbing compound yet? you may be able to buff it back out.
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