Finally a question I can answer with full confidence!! The tint on the back 8 windows (back doors + cargo area) is factory if; you can not see the edge of the film when you roll the rear door windows down or if you can't scrape the stuff off with a flat razor blade (and soapy water). Also, if it's aftermarket film, you should notice possible scratches or nicks, as this stuff is not indestructable. It's kind of like paint, take care of it and it will last a while, but anything metal or gritty will scratch it. If the windows have a shiny (reflective) and bronze look to it, it is most likely factory tint, which is made into the glass. More specifically, it is "stained" into the glass. Now here is the tricky part. It is just about impossible to match it both inside and out. I have used a layer (each) of two different shades (and colors) in attempts to match it. I have tried to match similar vehicles such as the Ford F150 Xtra cab, Nissan pathfinder and some ugly Lexus SUV, all with similar methods. The Ford and Lexus were the closer matches. It takes a light (%) metallized film first followed by a medium bronze film. There are several different types of film out there but two basic types: dyed and metallic as well as a blend they refer to as hybrid. When you see a vehicle with "mirror tint" it has a heavily metalized film on it, thus making it look reflective (like a mirror). The darker the percentage the more reflective it is. The trooper factory tint comes in a medium percentage of somewhere between 15%-20% (the lower the # the darker the tint). 20% only allows 20% of the sunlight that hits the window to pass through the window. Thus 5% ("limo tint") blocks out 95% of the given light hitting the window. In an attempt to match factory tint you want to find a metalized film (~50%) then follow it with a light-medium bronze (~35%). Combined it should equal something close to 15%-20%. Another thing to realize is that the two front doors (that appear to be clear) actually have a very light shade of bronze (very, very light) already in the glass. This is only on troops that have the factory tint already on the back section. I realized this when installing a salvage wing window from a factory-tinted rig onto my non-factory-tinted troop. So you already have a tiny amount of the bronze in the fronts. If you can find a shop that is willing to experiment with different shades and colors, it will look pretty good. It is quite rare however to match one "close" to perfect. Also there are some bronze-refelctive films out there that aren't too bad. But they turn out more bronz"ey" than anything thus not really matching. Sorry for such a long post. It's much easier to show a customer this then to explain in a forum. Hope it helps though. The link below should take you to some pics of my tint. My truck was clear from the factory. I added the graphics (Llumar Platinum Plus 18%) then followed by a layer of Llumar ATR 7%. Like OneBad said you can see out of the 5% very well during the daylight hours. Offroading at night in the woods is quite another story though. Cheers

JC

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/700076/6


Last edited by ninety1troop; 09/13/06 06:49 PM.

"Some people never go crazy" - Burkowski
1991 Trooper, indy4x 1.5 lift, flowmaster exhaust, 3.4 engine swap.