Im so glad we dont have those inspections here. I would fail on so many different things.

 

Come to NY. You would be pulled over weekly and ticketed! No tint on the front windows or very little allowed. I guess for us it's no big deal though...we only get sunshine a few days a year!

 

I don't mess around with tint. I have the factory tint and that's good for me. I don't want to get something that's legal in North Carolina but when I drive through Virginia or some other state I get pulled over/ticketed for having too dark of tint.
I can't stand Virginia/West Virginia cops and the general consensus is that they hate Marines. Mutual hatred.

 

factory rear window tint is ~18% on the meter. Aftermarket tint to match is usually 20%-15% depending on the brand of tint used and the place that does it. 13% sounds about right for an aftermarket match. They should have put 20% on which will still read lower on the meter generally. Did you get it done at a reputable shop? Take it back and have them put 20% on to "match" the back like you wanted because you had failed your inspection. I did 35% so I didn't have any problems with inspection or cops or not being able to see clearly at night.

Any rate....13% is way too dark for the front windows. There's no way things can be seen like they can with no tint or tint above 20%(like 35%). I've had many cars with 5, 20, 35, 50% tints. 5% should illegal everywhere because it's just unsafe. You cannot see anything at night. Cannot tell if a biker or animal is beside you or if someone is walking into the road. Only way to tell is if your lights are directly on them. Can't back up worth a damn with 5% unless you have a spotlight behind you or roll a window down(which is just ridiculous) Tint blocks your side vision. i suppose when your so used to driving a rig, you get used to using your mirrors all the time which cannot be seen in 13% tint.

You asked if they looked to dark and my answer is Yep. Drive around with your front windows down and then up. You will see how3 much you can't see....if that makes sense...lol

 

Mine are tinted from the factory and are fine, plenty dark for front windows. On my old truck I had them tint the fronts to 20% (legal is 35% I believe) but eventhough those windows were darker, you could still feel the sun through them more than the factory tinted windows (if that makes any sense). Now I wouldn't mind them being a shade darker but its really not to bad as they are now.

 

Mine are -5 I work at a shop and my Inspectors are my friends so it's all good but factory is suppose to be 20

 

I put 20% on my front and it matched the factory rear tint perfectly. The laws on tint here in PA are kind of ambiguous, luckily I haven't had any issues yet.

 

I would say it looks dark to me! Here the limit is 35% on the fronts. I have 18% and it matches the rears well from outside. Inside, they are definitely darker than the rears.

joe

 

I too went with 35% on the fronts. I use my truck as a truck at times and and darker makes the trailer very hard to see at night, even with the lights on it. I need to be able to see my mirrors!!

 

I am an inspector in Texas, and dude, that tint is WAY too dark. The main reason that inspectors don't really like to pass a failing vehicle is not because he feels like being a douche, but because if they were to be caught in the act, they GO TO JAIL. Not to mention the quite hefty fines, jail time, possible loss of job and definite loss of license (not just inspector license, but driving license). Texas at least is quite serious about having a safe vehicle that passes emissions.