How To Tint Silverado Windows

Think it is too hard to tint your own windows? Think again! It is much easier than you think. 

Today I will be covering tinting the windows on my 2007 Chevy Silverado Classic.

Window tint offers a lot of bang for your buck. Tinting the windows on your ride can drastically change the appearance of the vehicle as a whole. A roll of tint can cost as little as ten dollars and the benefits are absolutely worth it. My favorite reason for having tinted windows is the security. It all goes back to, "out of sight, out of mind". People won't steal what they can't see.

Doing your own window tint is easily achievable with some patience and attention to detail. It is important that you take your time and do it right once.

*** Laws regarding window tinting for automobiles varies from state to state. This website is a good resource for those of you looking to find the legalities of window tint in your state. ***


Okay...Now onto the fun part.

What you need:
-Glass Cleaner
-Paper Towels
-Flat Razor Blades
-Spray bottle with soapy water (a couple pumps of dish soap and some water will do fine)
-Plastic Card (license, credit card, or similar)
-Roll of tinting
-Towel

Project Time:   A few hours taking your time.

Place a towel over any electronics to keep them from getting soaked.

1.Preparing the surface-  This is a critical part of the tinting process. Thoroughly clean and dry both sides of the window with glass cleaner. Then spray the interior side of the window again with glass cleaner. Holding a flat edge razor tilted back to you about 45 degrees (see picture), gently scrape the entire window keeping it wet around the blade to remove anything that was too stuck on for the glass cleaner.  Once you have fully scraped the inside of the glass, clean it once more to remove anything that is left from the scraping. Just to recap- wash inside and out, scrape inside, wash inside. Now the glass is ready for the film.

Scraping the glass.

 2. Cutting the tint- Before we do anything with the tinting we need to determine which side of the tint is to be applied to the glass. To do this take two small pieces of transparent tape and stick them both on one of the corners of the tinting facing each other and sticking them together. When you peel the two pieces of tape apart you should see the tint start to separate from a clear plastic. The side attached to the clear plastic is the side to be applied to the glass (I usually mark it with a piece of masking tape). Now, standing outside the truck with the plastic sheet side facing you, tape the roll of tint a bit above the window on the door. Unroll it over the window and trim a couple inches past the bottom.  Slowly begin to trim the tinting to the size and shape of the window. Be sure to get a smooth cut along the bottom edge.  Don't worry too much about the tops or sides, a little big is fine because we will be trimming it back a bit more in the following steps. If you have rain guards you should cut the tinting along with the top edge of the guard where it turns to flat plastic along   the door.

3. Applying the Film- If you have an extra set of hands around they would be nice for this step. Spay the inside of the window to be tinted with your soap & water mixture.  Using the "tape trick" begin to separate the film from the clear plastic sheeting. As you separate the two, soak the emerging side of the tinting with your soapy water mixture. Be careful not to fold or crease the film. Once all the plastic is removed place the tinting on the soapy glass and spray the other side of the film. Now, begin to line up your smooth cut bottom with the bottom of the glass and use your plastic card to smooth the bottom couple inches of the tint. Try to push it into the  bottom weatherstripping. Slowly begin to cut the bottom sides back to fit the glass. Remember - cut a small amount at a time! You can always take a bit off, but if you cut it short you will have to start over. Once you get the first couple inches cut into place and smoothed roll the window down a small amount (Keep a close eye to ensure tinting doesn't shift, If you think it did roll up, correct as necessary, and try again. Begin to smooth the rest of the window starting from the center and pushing towards the outside edges. Cut the tinting back to the shape of the glass along the top and sides even with the glass.  Then continue smoothing the film and trimming as necessary.

To cut the tint back to its final shape you will want to get a fresh razor blade. Hold your hand along the window edge with the knife blade between 1/8" to 1/4" in from the edge make your final cut, leaving a smooth uniform edge of tint and clear glass around the outer edges of the top of the glass (see picture)  I cut the tinting to fit inside the weatherstripping along the sides of the window.

Important notes for step 3: Keep the side of the tinting you are smoothing from continuously wet with soapy water while you are smoothing. Use a light touch when smoothing so you don't scratch or rip the tint.   Cut a small amount at a time. For bubbles giving you trouble leaking back behind the tint, push it out and hit it lightly with a hairdryer do dry the liquid you are pushing out. 

4. Repeat all steps for next window.

Finished Product:

Final thoughts: 

So the windows are tinted and look great. I had a lot of fun doing these too. I logged onto my Pandora Radio account and took my time to ensure a great looking end product. All in all I spent about three hours doing this by myself.  For the money saved I am very happy with  this project. The tint I chose to use was 20% tint that I purchased for $14.99 at my local auto parts store.

As always, thanks for checking out my project and feel free to ask any questions or just tell me what you thought about this project.

What next? How about giving this truck an "eyebrow".

In my next post I will be covering adding an eyebrow (tint across top of windshield) to my truck. Be sure to check back!