failsafe

Few questions for you guys, since I'm new to the exterior mod thing:

1) Clear corners - Would the chrome bulbs for these (i.e. - like the ones they sell on RX8Strakes) be legal in PA if they're the ones that light up white rather than amber? Same for the front/rear turn signal chrome bulbs.

2) Those of you that have tint, how badly do you get hassled about it? What do you have on your windows percentage-wise? I know 70% is supposed to be "legal" but I've heard tons of stories about police not really caring what the law actually says.

3) Anyone have front/fog/rear light overlay kits installed? What's the legality on transparency for these? Couldn't find anything in the vehicle code that spoke to it.

Thanks in advance.

L337fpc

iTrader: (4)

1) Clear corners are illegal, but many people have them. I think as long as it has orange bulbs, your fine.

2) I paid to get it done. I got 20%, 30% is the legal limit. I haven't gotten hassled, but 15% or darker will grab more attention. IMO 20% is just right.

3) I got my heads, tails, and fogs tinted. Im pretty sure all tint on heads, tails, and fogs are illegal.

I'd give shades of gray a call. They are in Feasterville PA. Near Busleton Pike.

lepichichi

iTrader: (10)

you'll be fine i never had problems with my tinted windows or clear corners

YUL PHL

iTrader: (1)

can anyone recommend a good tint shop in the Phila area? other than shades of gray?

lepichichi

iTrader: (10)

call this guys they are the best 215-820-9700

karstman7

iTrader: (1)

clear corners no prob you will pass inspection and all...as far as tint...you can definitely get pulled for it - it happened once and i ignored the fix it ticket and paid a fine about a month later and still have my tint. i've been pulled over otherwise and tint wasn't mentioned...

fyi ANY tint in pa is illegal if it is darker than what comes factory...

failsafe

That the place you went this past weekend lep? I'm assuming it turned out nice.

lepichichi

iTrader: (10)

me and my friends always go there %100 quality, i know a couple of more places in philly that will do it cheaper, but the results won't be the same.

failsafe

Yeah, I'm definitely not looking to hold back on quality exterior work on this car (especially for stuff as touchy as tint), so I'm not too concerned about the cost. Half the things I'm looking to add to it don't seem to exist anyway (at least in the color/finish I'm looking for) and will probably end up being custom work, so paying a little extra for a quality tint job is the least of my concerns. lol

Xarnthal

Hm, I was told that any tint is legal in PA, maybe it's by county? I'm in Chester county, never had any problems, have 15% for going on 5 years. I mostly drive in Delaware and I've never had any issues with the police there either. If you get pulled over they just pull a gun on you until they see your hands, at least that how they do it to me.

I was wondering if I'll pass with my TPMS light going off, I'm getting new wheels(shipped today) and I won't have TPMS installed. Will I need to throw the factory's back on to get through inspection ?

failsafe

Minimum 70% light passthrough is legal in PA with a +-3% margin of error allowable. That is according to the written law and PennDot's vehicle code. I'm looking at it right now. Some of it is on PennDot's website. The problem is that from what I've read and heard from many people (including a few attorneys I know who do traffic defense for a living), some LEO's and judges in PA don't really care what the law says and will ticket/convict you regardless, but they know they have you over a barrel unless you decide to pay even more court costs and appeal, which 98% of people don't; they just pay the fine or take the tint off. To my mind, that's an utterly atrocious abuse of authority, but there's not much anyone can do about it unless they want to pay more money in court costs/attorney fees than the actual fine. It seems like a nice little racket some of them have going on.

I don't have firsthand experience obviously, so take those anecdotes with a grain of salt, but I'm just trying to get more opinions and info to make sure I avoid as much hassle as I can. Many people have said to me as well that they get hassled very little or not at all, so there's two sides to everything.

One way or another, I'm putting at least some tint on my car, nothing outrageous; just enough to match all the other stuff I'm doing aesthetically and to provide my interior with a little protection from the sun. I might even wind up appealing any tickets I get convicted of out of spite since I'm going to great lengths to make sure I'm not putting anything illegal on my car by what the law actually says.

karstman7

iTrader: (1)

yeah...70% passthrough is what car stock windows are...any tint beyond that is illegal...hence any tint film will be illegal.....