DIY Tint back window?

Never done it before, and you want to dive in on rear window? It's convex curve I think? If I'm not mistaken you need to do it in strips, with the seams coinciding with heater wires, just to blend in. To get that right they used to lay them out on the outside of the glass, cut it there, then transfer to the inside.

I would say fugedaboutit, get the pros on it.

Off-topic: I don't like tint, would never buy a vehicle with it.

 

I'd suggest working with walmart tint to practice or precut on ebay,use heat on opposite side to shrink tint,make sure you know which side the adhesive is on and adhesive side should be facing out,use brand new razor blades

 

To shape the tint on the inside, adhesive facing the glass, with a heat gun is not difficult; to have a good finish job is.
Being a level of difficulty way above average, have it done by a pro place.
If you are willing to try and waste some material, the film is installed in one piece and then stretch and shrink with heat.

 

So is it doable without resorting to strips nowadays? Just curious.

 

The Tint paper has some flexibility nowadays. Besides, there are many more manufacturers with great quality materials also.

 

I refused to pay $300+ tint job, so I started to study on applying automotive tint film (reading OEM tint film manual and youtube). I bought roll of Geoshield DarkMatter Ceramic 30, cleaning materials, home made squeegee, tinted 9 windows (includes small windows) taking me total 2 hours, total material price= $120 (for materials). I compared to dealer applied tint film and workmanship, I can say I did very good job for my first tint. If you want endevor tinting your car window, my experience are the following;
1. I recommend in checking your local law for minimum tint % transmission and % light reflectance
2. If you going 30% light transmission, actual tint will be 28% reason being that factory windows are tinted, hence lower % tint (hint if state law is 32%, lower 32% may get ticket)
3. Get good tint film(1.5-2 Mil thick film) and cleaning materials (towels that do not leave lint)
4. Use demin water with baby shampoo soap
5. Apply tint film ambient temperature above 50 deg F, unless you are professional, I did mine at 60 deg F.
6. Protect upholstery while cleaning and applying tint film
7. Cleaning windows very well prior application is key for professional job.
8. Spray diluted demin +baby shampoo generously
9. Dont rush in applying tint film, good tint film will adjust easily with no mess.
10. Remove as much as water with squeegee
11. Dont roll your windows after application
12. Let sit on the sun for 4 hours or more. Dont roll windows for 2-3 days.
13. Dont use ammonia base cleaners when applying tint film or cleaning tinted window.

The above is my experience, you will need to do your due diligence on selection of tint film, reading OEM and other applicable instruction manual.
If you do not want to cut tint film to the shape of the window, you can go to a tint shop and ask to cut car window shape or buy directly pre cut tint film from the tint shop.

 

I can't speak for tinting a gen 3, but I tinted all of my gen 2 windows successfully except the back window (9 of 10) on my first try with no prior experience using a 3M FX Premium kit I bought off of ebay for less than $100, a cheap tool kit off amazon for less than $20, a sprayer, baby shampoo, and a blow dryer.

The back top window however I failed at, as it's a very large surface area and I wasn't using a proper heat gun (using a blow drier...which worked fine for the other windows haha). I ended up with bubbles and creases that were too severe and had to pull the whole thing off and trash it. I'll be taking my car to the tint shop to get the final back window tinted.

I'd rate difficulty of different windows as follows:
Very small relatively flat windows (eg. pieces of glass in front of and behind roll-able windows): 3/10
Side Windows: 5/10
Small curved rear windows (eg. smaller piece of glass below rear window on Prius): 6/10
Rear window: 7.5/10
Front windshield (estimated, I've never attempted, but is especially difficult as area is huge, curved, and any specs of dust show very easily in 80-90% transmission tints):9/10

Your probability of success is likely low if you haven't tinted other windows prior. I think there's a good chance of succeeding if you start with tinting the easiest windows and then work your way up, as you learn the process of tinting before needing to do the more challenging windows. Consider using the material you've bought to do the side windows first.

Steve's tips are great too. Also, strips are not required for most tints these days, as the tint can be shrunk to fit the curved windows.

This is the kit I bought, and everything was cut perfectly to size: Fits Toyota Cars - Full Car Precut Window Tint Film Kit Pre cut 3M Premium Film | eBay

 

Fortunately it's easy to remove - just need garbage bags and some household spray cleaner. I agree with you as far as dark tints go - Anything below about 35% tint looks ghetto to me. My car has a 35% (actual 42% minus whatever the glass blocks naturally, called 35) tint and if I had to do it again, I'd go lighter, probably 40%.

 

Back window is a two person job the rest it one person clean windows two time before use a Razer Blade make perfectly smooth other than that it's pretty easy

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Tinting which comes in a variety of thicknesses and degrees can be fixed through a simple process (but a painstaking process). It only needs a bit of patience and attention to the detail.
If you are planning to DIY tinting, start with a clean car. Apply the tint on the inside and work the window film on the outside. This is then heat formed to accept the compound curvature of the glass. Once it is formed, they are trimmed to the right size. Get the right tools and tinting squeegee ready, before embarking on tint fixing.
Buy your film, and prepare your windows by cleaning them with paper towel and squeegee(side windows should be cleaned twice). This has to be done with windows, fully up and with 2 to 3 inches down. Trace and cut to the appropriate size and apply to the window by peeling back the first part of the sheet from the film. Spray the window with adhesive window solution. Slowly pull away from the remainder of the sheet, spraying adhesive solution and working out air bubbles as you go. Work from the middle out using a squeegee. Wipe away any remaining moisture using a paper towel or soft cloth.
Experts at uv film for glass toronto says that if your plan is to just tint the car windows, investing in tools and window tint is not worth the expense. Some cars demand a combination of techniques.
If you have doubts at any point, it would be wise to approach professionals to get it done.