window tinting

my wife and i have spent nearly 120 days in our 2001 3023 in the past 12 months and the one thing we both feel would be of benefit would be tinted windows.  i have never had any experience in tinting windows in a car or truck but feel that it would provide a little more privacy and would definitely help with the heating and cooling i believe.  has anyone tinted their tm windows either themselves or had it done professionally?  if so, has it been a benefit or have any problems resulted like the windows getting scratched etc.  if you did it yourself, what product did you use and how easy or hard was it to apply.  appreciate any information that you might have.  

thanks

dennisu

[Civil_War_Buff]

I have thought about the same thing, and I am looking at this one:

http://www.gilafilms.com/rv/rv_products.html

It sounds like it might fit the bill you as well.

Larry

Check out page 2 on tips and tricks.  There is a good discussion of window tinting.

ColoradoCop

We had our windows tinted (all but the bathroom and door).  The cost is $450.00 for limo tint.  It is worth it.  No one can see in but we can see out.  The curtains will not fade or become sun damaged.  We'll get tired of them before they look shabby.  The tint will deflect 80% of uv rays.  It was noticeably cooler inside after the windows were tinted.
I like the privacy factor.    Because the bathroom window and door window are frosted glass it is impossible to tint them.  As for doing it yourself...
it took professionals 2 days to do ours and they know what they are doing. I'm better at writing checks than tinting windows.  Hope this helps with your decision.

thanks for the responses.  i promptly went out and bought the materials today to do the job myself, BUT, after getting back home and looking at the screen situation i gave it a second thought and took all the materials back.  have decided if i have it done it will have to be by someone who knows what they are doing.  hopefully i can find some reputable company that can do the job and not mess up the screens.    

thanks again

dennisu

Just today I finished tinting the last window in our 3023 myself.  It's a tough do it yourself job but if you have patience it can be done.  Total cost for 20% high quality metalized film and new screen material was ~$100.  Also tinted the bathroom and door - it does stick to the inside glass as the outside is the bumpy frosted side.

Wade  

[Brightsu]

What brand name did you purchase and where? As far as the screens go I've had all the curtains down and did you know there are 5 screws per panel which makes 10 screws a window figure that, I dyed all the curtains, but if I tint the windows I can make all new curtains and not worry about using the same ones over. By the way can you order new track for the curtains from TM.

Pam

Pam,

I used Axius window film, 20% dark charcoal, quality level 7500. The # on the box is 51124, purchased from local Checker Auto Parts. I needed 4 boxes (~$15 each) and the replacement screen was purchased in rolls at a Lowe's home improvement store.

Wade

Hi Wade,

I am curious about the process you went thru. Did you have to remove the window completely? I would like to tint ours & since our TM is 10yrs old thought it might be worthwhile to re-seal the windows but am concerned about getting them out without breaking them.

Thanks for any help.

Dan

Wade, or anyone else who's tinted your windows,

I did a trial tinting of half a window in my workshop (the fixed half with approx. 15" x 34" glass surface) I used Gila Film's platinum film for residences, a roll of which I purchased from our local Lowe's. This film is reputed to block 77% of the sun's heat from entering. It took quite a bit of work with the squeegees to get all of the large liquid pockets out, but it turned out nicely, with no visible air pockets when completely dry.

This window is a dual pane one. It is in full sun during most of the morning. The film, however, does not seem to have cut down on much of the sun's heat that passes through this half of the window. My hand, in fact, can feel the heat of the sun much more on this half than on the other, untinted half. The untinted side has an ordinary window screen on its outside that cuts down on the amount of sun that can enter. My hand feels a lot cooler in the sunlight on this untinted side. I wish that I had a pyrometer that I could use for more objective testing instead of my hand. Perhaps, I'll do some testing on part of a pane of glass with some film cutoffs from my first application. Or, maybe, I'll just remove the screen from the untinted side this morning and do my "hand pyrometer" test over again this morning.

What subjective results have some of you obtained in cooling your homes or TrailManors with window tinting film? I hate to go to all of this labor and expense in order to find out that the film manufacturers' claims are exaggerated. ??? ??? ??? ???