Tinted Tail Lights - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

FalKeen · 09-20-2002, 18:34

hey guys seen a couple of AU's driving around with the tail lights tinted, apparently you can get a spray can of the stuff and do it yourself?? any legal problems with this (cops/rta)? anyone got this done to theirs, had any problems?

any help would be appreciated
cheers

Thanatos · 09-20-2002, 18:51

Yer, it's pretty easy and cheap to do...

Just buy the tint (available from autobarn, repco, marlows, etc. - i think about $8 for a can) and spray it on just like spray paint. Just make sure you do it evenly, or when the lights come on it'll look dodgy. Also, if you're gonna go really dark, then it would be good idea to upgrade your globes to brighter ones (to avoid people running into you because they can't see you're brake lights).

As for legalities, I know that it's illegal here in vic., but that hasn't stopped every second car I see around uni from doing it. Some people like to buy a spare set of tailghts for tinting, so they can always swap them back if they get defected...

Dave

FalKeen · 09-20-2002, 19:27

cheers thanatos...
so its sprayed on the outside?? i thought it may have been on the inside...that makes it a f@rkin hell of a lot easier then doesnt it lol

thanks again

DansEdgli · 09-20-2002, 19:30

I have seen a grey EF in the city once and his taillights matched his paint it looked unreal. I dont know how he did it tho. Any IDeas??

LTDHO · 09-21-2002, 03:22

I have been told by several ppl, that it is illegal, but LTD's have tinted tail light factory..... Go figure....

I tinted the T\L on my old XB coupe, standard two coats, looked wicked. Never got pulled over once. Tint is to be applied to the inside, if you paint the outside it will scratch off!!

09-21-2002, 04:26

If you tint the tail lights there are a number of things you MUST make sure of. Firstly, the car was ADR'd on the basis the red light MUST display red when the brakes are applied or the lights are on. The indicators MUST display orange when the indicators are turned on.
Now this doesn't mean, they just glow, but they must perfom the same way as before the tint.

The taillights must also be visible from 200m away at night.

The reason that some tail lights look tinted on a standard car is more to do with the manufacturing process than applying a can of tint. That's why the LTD has those lenses.

I guess if you tinted them you may have to see a sparky and up the wattage of the globe so that it is visible in both day an night.

As far as headlight covers or those stupid transfers that the Georgie Boys put on their headlights to make it look as though the headlights are round, well they're are a few rules with that.

Under the Aust. Road Rules, the headlights MUST shine a white light when they are turned on. This means tinted or opaque covers are out. However under ADR, you can't put any cover on the light which changes the shape of the light. This would include things like a cover which makes the rectangular headlight look like twin round beams. The reason? The design of the light and the internal reflector pass ADR by being the shape that they are. Anything that impedes that reduces the effectiveness of the light. Some bullbars would come into this, but clear headlight covers, or even ones with the very thin horizontal lines across them are OK.
Cheers!

Futura97 · 09-21-2002, 20:36

I'm sure that your insurance company wouldn't like it one bit at all...

Pearly · 09-22-2002, 02:20

I had it on my EF, and I've had it on my XF.
The product is called Niteshades, or Nightshades... can't remember, haven't used it for a while.

IT IS NOT LEGAL!

Now if you're going to go ahead with it... it's your choice.
You need to do it in layers. Apply the first layer, evenly and light(very). Allow to dry for about 10-15 mins. Then apply the second layer. Don't do anymore than 2 because it gets very dark and you can not see it durring the day.
If this causes an accidents you won't be able to claim on insurance if you're cought.

I got hit in the rear of my EF while I had them on and lucky got away with it. (NOT because of these btw... the guy was not looking)

So be careful. I now have tinted ones and spare ones just in case.

Rollin · 09-22-2002, 04:20

i talked to a guy at a farked fours jamboree once who had a festiva, what he had done was buy a pair of black pantyhose (he probably used ones he had spare from when he goes out at night...) and cut them in half at the crutch, then removed the tail light from the car and put it in the stocking, and stretched it around the outside, so the light looked dark from a distance but wasnt that dim when the brakes are applied. the bonus is if the cops pull you over you can just rip them straight off in front of them if you want.

i dont know if you really want to explain to your mates down the pub how you got your rear lights tinted, but it actually didnt look too bad, and its a bit cheaper than buying a spare set of tail lights for if/when you get defected....

xacoupe · 09-22-2002, 04:58

Pearly .. tinting your tailights (or other lights) IS illegal no matter what you use to do it.
Trust me .. I know

Quote:

Originally posted by Pearly-XF
I had it on my EF, and I've had it on my XF.
The product is called Niteshades, or Nightshades... can't remember, haven't used it for a while.

IT IS NOT LEGAL!

Now if you're going to go ahead with it... it's your choice.
You need to do it in layers. Apply the first layer, evenly and light(very). Allow to dry for about 10-15 mins. Then apply the second layer. Don't do anymore than 2 because it gets very dark and you can not see it durring the day.
If this causes an accidents you won't be able to claim on insurance if you're cought.

I got hit in the rear of my EF while I had them on and lucky got away with it. (NOT because of these btw... the guy was not looking)

So be careful. I now have tinted ones and spare ones just in case.