[Nightshade2020]

Hi all,

Has anyone here had their tail lights tinted? If so I would love to see some pictures. I'm considering it for my Corolla and trying to get an idea of how it would look.

Thanks.

 

[jmoney1119]

I’m gonna just put out there that while it may look better, please don’t. It makes brake lights so much harder to see and react to. Ultimately it’s your choice, it just increases the chances someone behind you won’t see them turn on.

 

[killer23d]

i custom cut some PPF strips to protect the horizontal services. I know Lamin-X has tail light PPF and they can be tinted or clear. They look hard to install for the tail.

 

[igzy]

I can see why you would want to do this on your Night Shade edition, it could look nicer

Ontario Hwy Traffic Act doesn't specifically call out tail lights, only headlights against modifying. With that, if you decide to do it, I wouldn't go too dark so that the brake and position lights become invisible or hardly visible, go light tint so not to attract too much attention. Something like light smoke. Many tint shops do that and price is around $100 depending on how hard it is. When my HB was tinted there was a silver Elantra hatch that had it done and it looked nice...

This made news some years ago:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/don-t-tint-your-brake-lights-say-the-rnc-1.3008435

 

[Nightshade2020]

I can see why you would want to do this on your Night Shade edition, it could look nicer

Ontario Hwy Traffic Act doesn't specifically call out tail lights, only headlights against modifying. With that, if you decide to do it, I wouldn't go too dark so that the brake and position lights become invisible or hardly visible, go light tint so not to attract too much attention. Something like light smoke. Many tint shops do that and price is around $100 depending on how hard it is. When my HB was tinted there was a silver Elantra hatch that had it done and it looked nice...

This made news some years ago:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/don-t-tint-your-brake-lights-say-the-rnc-1.3008435

Thanks for the advice and added details. I'm still on the fence about it for that reason. I definitely do not want it so dark that the brake lights aren't obvious.

I found this video of tinted tail lights at night, at 1:30 is an example. They look bright enough in my opinion.

 

[Raithskar]

I always found it super annoying & dangerous when I see tinted taillight that end up blocking a good portion of the emitted light. During the day, the brake lights are almost invisible on some cars & at night they are too dim in many cases to take active notice of as regular nighttime running lights (brakes not applied). Heck, some new cars today with regular OEM taillights are hard to spot, like Mazda, due to their tiny circular brake/driving light rear design. Funny how some taillights are super obnoxious in their nighttime brightness/coverage & others are super lacking & hard to spot. Thankfully, I have found both my Yaris & Corolla to be somewhere in the comfortable middle-zone. The vertical bumper reflectors on the latest Corolla also help a lot in keeping the rear visible at night.

 

[Nightshade2020]

I always found it super annoying & dangerous when I see tinted taillight that end up blocking a good portion of the emitted light. During the day, the brake lights are almost invisible on some cars & at night they are too dim in many cases to take active notice of as regular nighttime running lights (brakes not applied). Heck, some new cars today with regular OEM taillights are hard to spot, like Mazda, due to their tiny circular brake/driving light rear design. Funny how some taillights are super obnoxious in their nighttime brightness/coverage & others are super lacking & hard to spot. Thankfully, I have found both my Yaris & Corolla to be somewhere in the comfortable middle-zone. The vertical bumper reflectors on the latest Corolla also help a lot in keeping the rear visible at night.

Ya I hear you, and fair enough.

It's probably best I just leave the tail lights as is. Better safe than sorry.

 

[ukrkoz]

Take lights out. Find wife's or GF's stockings of your liking. Pull over the light. Put light back in.
Done. Smoked or fishnet. Whatever is your pleasure.

 

[Nightshade2020]

Take lights out. Find wife's or GF's stockings of your liking. Pull over the light. Put light back in.
Done. Smoked or fishnet. Whatever is your pleasure.

Lol, great post.

 

[ohw]

Isn't that the worst of all worlds?
If you wrap the stocking around the light bulb, 1. you don't get the tinted look, car looks exactly same as before. 2. the tail light output is less to make it harder for other to see. 3. Girl friend/wife: "Hey, what happened to the other half of my favorite stocking?".

 

[ukrkoz]

Not around the light bulb. Around light HOUSING. That is, actually, real life hack. Cheap and dirty. You can go colors and various transparency, pending how much you stretch it. "smokes" light assembly just fine.

 

[ohw]

🤦‍♂️ 😂😂

 

[HBrolla]

On top of potential of being ticketed, the car won't pass safety if and when you want to sell your car.

I learned my lesson on a Civic when I was young and had great time removing the tint with nail polish remover.

 

[Excoastie]

I'm just going to throw this out there...
I'm not in favor of reducing the light output on taillights, but there are other options besides wrapping them.

My son works in the paint department of a local body shop. One of the things he does "on the side" is to lightly tint automotive tail lights.

What he does is spray the colored portion of the housing with clear coat that is cut very lightly with some black paint. The effect looks pretty good, and it's an excellent blend between giving that blacked-out look without sacrificing (much) light output.

Exco

 

[igzy]

Take lights out. Find wife's or GF's stockings of your liking. Pull over the light. Put light back in.
Done. Smoked or fishnet. Whatever is your pleasure.

Black tights over tail lights