Disclaimer, I don't know anything about window tinting!
I've been wanting to tint my windows, but didn't really want to spend any money on it. Saw a precut 3M kit for $20 and spent another $10 on a cheapo squeegee kit. I figured worst case, I'd rip it off and sulk in the corner.
The sun was out today so I gave it a spin, and it's pretty straight forward. I wasn't really taking my time since it was $20 and I just wanted to go through the motions to see if it was even worth DIYing.
Everything is pretty straight forward. The most important thing is to take your time, make sure everything is clean, use lots of water/soap, and have an area that isn't windy...halfway in my shop bay door was not optimal.
The install itself is pretty straight forward:
- use a screwdriver to trick the car into thinking the door is closed so the window rolls up
- remove exterior door trim
- apply film
- squeegee
- trim excess
- apply heat gun to edges
- repeat until there are no big bubbles
I overcut a few edges at the top of one window and got some cat hair stuck in the passenger window but overall it looks good and reduces the heat from the sun. For $30 and an afternoon I can't complain. If the current tint job bothers me in the future I'll just rip it off and redo it multiple times and still come out ahead. Anybody can do this, so if you're on the fence give it a try! I'll have a video at some point once I finish editing the front/rear suspension R&R.
I've been wanting to tint my windows, but didn't really want to spend any money on it. Saw a precut 3M kit for $20 and spent another $10 on a cheapo squeegee kit. I figured worst case, I'd rip it off and sulk in the corner.
The sun was out today so I gave it a spin, and it's pretty straight forward. I wasn't really taking my time since it was $20 and I just wanted to go through the motions to see if it was even worth DIYing.
Everything is pretty straight forward. The most important thing is to take your time, make sure everything is clean, use lots of water/soap, and have an area that isn't windy...halfway in my shop bay door was not optimal.
The install itself is pretty straight forward:
- use a screwdriver to trick the car into thinking the door is closed so the window rolls up
- remove exterior door trim
- apply film
- squeegee
- trim excess
- apply heat gun to edges
- repeat until there are no big bubbles
I overcut a few edges at the top of one window and got some cat hair stuck in the passenger window but overall it looks good and reduces the heat from the sun. For $30 and an afternoon I can't complain. If the current tint job bothers me in the future I'll just rip it off and redo it multiple times and still come out ahead. Anybody can do this, so if you're on the fence give it a try! I'll have a video at some point once I finish editing the front/rear suspension R&R.
