Hey guys, I'm getting the windows tinted on my '08 TL tomorrow and was wondering if the tint is usually cut around the 3rd brake light or if it can go in front of it. If it does go in front of it, how do you remove the housing to get the tint in front of the light?

 

If its properly done it should go in front of the brake light no cutting business. Are you doing it your self or getting a shop to do it ?

 

A guy I know does it for me. He did my last two cars and has been tinting windows for 20+ years on the side. I just wasn't sure how it's usually done on TLs

 

mine is in front of brake light. also i dont have a gap in the rear qrtr window like you see in a lot of tls/other cars with the same window...

 

^ Same here....I think cutting around the brake light looks cheap. My 2G was tinted that way and it drove me crazy when I saw TLs that were done properly.

 

You just stick you fingers between the plastic piece and window and just pull it off. Comes off really easy.

 

Yeah the third brake light panel just snaps off. Just yank it off ahead of time to save your tinter the hassle and risk if him breaking shit. Also, pull the rear headrests out while your at it. Tell him to tint the entire rear window DO NOT leave a cutout for the third brake light. The other concern on the 3G as mentioned is the small rear door quarter windows. Lots of tint shops will leave a strip un-tinted behind the window seal. A good tinter can tint behind that area no issue at all. So make sure you tell him to tint that entire window and if he says that can't be done go find another shop because it can be done easily. It looks crappy from the outside if they leave that strip un-tinted.

James

 

cover the whole thing dont cut it

 

pics




My ABP

 

How visible is the 3rd brake light going through the tint? Does anyone have pics?

 

mine was cut around the light from the previous owner. I dont mind it at all. I like my bright brake lights thanks.

 

Its plenty visible. It obviously depends on what kind of tint but I would say the most common tint is 35% or 20%. With either of those it will still be perfectly visible and effective. 5% tint might be another story as thats almost like covering the window with black sheets or something lol.
Either way though tinting the entire window just makes it looks signficantly cleaner.

 

my guy went around it and i actually prefer it that way. rather have my brake light more visible

 

^^^ 35% tint will reduce the light output from the third brake light so minimally that from behind the car it would make no difference. But there is nothing wrong with leaving the tint off that section but it definately does look better fully tinted.

 

I am planning on getting at least 15% or darker in the rear. I would think that it would be harder to be seen during day light. I would rather be safe than sorry.

 

I have 5% on my rear windshield and its visible at night

 

Yeah I hadn't really looked at the brake light I just knew it was kinda in the way. I just went outside and snapped it off so I can get the whole window done. I think it will look better that way. And I'll make sure to tell him about the rear quarter window so that he gets the whole thing done

 

x2

 

Tint beind the light please. Mine is not done from when I bought the car and it drives me crazy. I'm going to get it fixed.

To the naysayers... Guys, this IS your THIRD brakelight. You have two other larger, more primary, and brighter brake lights that fulfill the same purpose and do a better job of it... If it was your only brake light then, sure, I would understand and agree... but it's your secondary option...

 

That is a bit similar to saying "sure one headlight was out, but I still had another one!"

I think I could get a ticket in NJ for tinting over the 3rd brake light. Of course I totally agree that it is EFFECTIVELY pointless because it doesn't affect visibility of the light hardly at all. But that doesn't help much with the cops. Or if someone rearended me, and my brake light was covered, I could be SOL.

 

It's not similar to that at all. You NEED both headlights functioning in order to be safe AND legal. It's not a very big safety issue, and I highly doubt the third brake light would have any legal ramifications at all. But I could be wrong there... Police seem to find any reason to pull you over if they want to, and tinting over the brake light could easily be one of those reasons. So if you think it could get you in trouble, I would avoid it. But my point was that, like you said, not only does it not effect the visability of the light, but it's also not a primary brake light. Therefore, not really a big deal.

Besides, how many people tint their actually brake lights?? THAT, to me, is not very safe.

 

The guy that did mine cut around my rear brake light as well, I don't mind it too much though. He did do my rear quarter windows correctly.

 

*legal* is the key way (and perhaps the only way) in which those statements are similar.

Just because there are multiple brake lights, multiple headlights, multiple wheels, does not mean that any one of them can be sacrificed legally.

 

Difference also with the 3rd brake light is that it is only illuminated when the brake is pressed (vs. tails being half illuminated at night). It's a definitive indicator that you are indeed braking.

At night, if your taillights are busted or malfunctioning that 3rd brake light will be the only one illuminated when you're trying to stop.

redundant? maybe. But redundancy goes hand in hand with safety.

 

That's a good point. One that I did not think of. But my previous point wasn't that the third brake light is completely useless. My only point was that it wouldn't be a big deal to tint over the glass (as long as the light isn't greatly restricted) because it is secondary to the primary brakelights. If tinting over the glass rendered the third brake light completely useless then I would be against it, but I don't think it greatly increases any danger. Plus, cutting around the light just looks

 

My
Listen a Tinter who doesnt take the time to take out the plastic of the third brake light is a lazy son of a bitch. I have a friend who has been tinting for 20+ years and this is what he told me. he has tinted all my cars as well as my friends cars and has never ever not tinted the third brake light. What ever tint you use it will be visible. As long as you can see behind you through the tint inside of the car the person behind you will see the brake light. To me it looks very cheap and tacky when you don't get this tinted. It shouldn't be illegal to reduce the light of your third brake light because not all cars come with it and you already have brake lights from your tails. The third light is just an extra feature

 

"The other concern on the 3G as mentioned is the small rear door quarter windows. Lots of tint shops will leave a strip un-tinted behind the window seal."

Can someone post a picture of what the above looks like?? I am wanting to get my TL tinted and I know I want them to tint over the 3rd brake light, but what is this about the rear quarter doors??

 

I respectfully disagree. Try disconnecting your 3rd brake light and see how long you can get away without a ticket, or if you can pass inspection. I understand what you are saying, that not all cars come with (or at least came with) a third brake light, but that is not a valid excuse to tamper/obscure the brake light on a car that DID come with one.

I am playing devil's advocate here, because I agree there is absolutely no effective difference in visibility of the light. But the law is rarely based on logic, rather based on hard-and-fast rules.

 

I think it's complicated enough that the majority of LEO's wouldn't know how to enforce it. To pass inspection (at least in PA), the brake light must work as the manufacturer built it to, which is most often applied to the lights. Like my SUV's 3rd brake light has three bulbs. In order to pass inspection, my burnt-out middle bulb had to be replaced, even though the third brake light is 'auxiliary' to the tails, and even though the other two bulbs worked fine.

Now if you tint between the back glass and the brake light, you have not modified how the light works in any way. But nonetheless, is it illegal to reduce the brightness of it? My guess is it's not spelled out. In PA, the back glass has no tint restrictions on how dark it can be, only that you have two side mirrors as they're conceding that you won't see shit out of your rearview mirror. In all the tint law references I've seen, none make mention of the brake light.

If someone hit you and tried to claim that they didn't see your third brake light go on, will the tinting bite you in the ass? To me that's arguable in your favor and will depend on how dark we're talking. Anything under 15% is probably too much. The onus is on the other driver to ultimately maintain control of their vehicle. If they couldn't see your taillight brakes and were claiming to rely on your 3rd brake light as an indicator, and then try to say that your tint caused them not to see it, then they still failed to maintain a sufficient following distance. What are the odds that... ...a) the other driver will try to use the tint argument against you? ...b) the LEO responding to the accident will think to check if your brake light was tinted over? It's slim for either, let alone both. My

Back to the OP's question/topic though, I honestly left it up to my tint shop as I didn't specify. They are a good shop that goes the extra mile and they tinted behind the light. They said they thought it looked better that way, but if I wanted it cut out, they'd take care of it, no charge.

 

Very good points. I agree it is pretty much pointless to argue about. I'm surprised so many people think it looks bad to have the tint cut around the 3rd brake light. IMO it looks "lazy" to cover the 3rd brake light area with tint. Cutting neatly around it looks more professional, IMO.

 

Good Thing about Florida is that there is no Inspection and Cop wont hassle you for a Third Brake light. When I had my Bimmer it would go out all the time so I finally stop putting bulbs in and I've never been pulled over for it. And Yes I used to get pulled over all the time for tint being to dark or the Full Tint on my windshield, loud exhaust and other dumb crap but never for third brake light. I've even been pulled over for a regular brake light being out and they never said anything about the third brake light. I just guess it depends where you live and on the Cop. Its not that I dislike the cut out third brake light, I just feel tinters do get lazy and would much rather cut around a third brake light instead of taking out the time to remove it and tint over the whole back window. If im paying good money for my tints I don't want a lazy tinter. But its to the eye of the beholder whether the cut out third brake light is for them or not