Blacked out and debadged!

[ram_charged]

boys im workin on it....slowly but surely. blacked out and debadged, new alpine 9887, with sirius integrated. gonna smoke the back up lamps soon, when i get a chance......

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[vibolista]

Very clean looking. In the light you took your picture, the Vibe is looking a bit "goth". Smoking your back-up lamps will finish that look, but carefull when you put it in reverse at night. A smoked lens will cut down the small amount of light these little lamps put out back there!

[ram_charged]

just gonna do a light smoke on the backup lenses.....

[vibolista]

Just looked up a set of Sylvania Silverstar backup bulbs at Auto Zone. They say that they are about 30% brighter than the regular bulb in our Vibes. I may try a set to see. That might help you if you do smoke the lenses. I hope they last longer than their head lights!

[bull77]

nicely done

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »Just looked up a set of Sylvania Silverstar backup bulbs at Auto Zone. They say that they are about 30% brighter than the regular bulb in our Vibes. I may try a set to see. That might help you if you do smoke the lenses. I hope they last longer than their head lights! I was going to suggest getting some Silver Star bulbs for the reverse lights. I have them in my '09 GT and they're awesome! Nice bright white light. Makes a huge difference when backing up at night. Only $7.99 a pair at Auto Zone.

[MichaelUhl]

that would help with my dark tinted windows, i always am scared of running down someone at night

[djkeev]

Quote, originally posted by MichaelUhl »that would help with my dark tinted windows, i always am scared of running down someone at night Not really attacking, maybe I am, but at least you realize the folly of what you've done!There are reasons there are laws governing the degree of black out. There are laws governing the amount of light that headlamps emit. There are laws governing the color and brightness of tail light and turn signals.Why the laws?So YOU can see me.andso that I can see YOU.Sure it looks "bad" what you've done but after you've killed someone and are sitting in jail for vehicular manslaughter, you can dwell upon how cool your car looked when you killed them!My opinion. except for a show car, this is absolutely stupid and from your comment you KNOW it is so.Like the judges say on American Idol before they rip a singer to shreds, "sorry but...."Dave

[A Psycho Martyr]

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »A smoked lens will cut down the small amount of light these little lamps put out back there! My plans with my backup lights are to tint them as well, but I have to wait til it gets warm so I can just tape em off and do it that way. But BEFORE I tint them, I'm gonna put backup lights I plan on ganking off something cheap at a junkyard and mount them under the bumper pointing down and out and hardwire them into the backup lights so I still have my light back there.

[A Psycho Martyr]

And HOLY CRAP man!!! I just looked at your picture and from experience I know that NOBODY will be able to see your taillights. I didn't even go that dark and mine were hard to see during the day. I would HIGHLY suggest doing them like I did mine. Get some 600grit sandpaper and wet sand over the top part where your actual brake light is, then tint around the edges to blend it, then clear coat. Makes a WORLD of difference. Check this thread out where I posted.http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=37910

[beemerphile1]

Personally, I think anyone that blacks out their lights should be issued citations by the police. Hopefully that will happen before someone hits you in the rear and you learn your error in judgment. There is a reason those smoke covers sold for some vehicles say; "for off road use only". It is illegal because it is dangerous. Frankly I think it looks dumb also, but that is just my opinion, obviously you like the look.

[ram_charged]

Obviously you know nothing about the laws in missouri...the light needs to be seen at 50 ft in the daylight...mine show from a lot further than that...there is nothing illegal about my lights. the third brake light is still visible as well. The smoked lenses are also more visible in high sun, because the sun will not reflect off of the inside lenses and "hide" the brake lights coming on. As far as your opinion...you know what they say about those, i could not do anything else with them, couldnt find any cool replacements, so i had to go smoked, and i do like them.

[ram_charged]

Listen dude...appreciate ur "concern" for others, but my car is in compliance with the state law in missouri..visible from 50 feet in the daylight, mine are far brighter. i never had a comment that said they were too dark anyway...and judging from your picture, mine are lighter than yours in the daylight....

[djkeev]

Quote, originally posted by ram_charged »Listen dude...appreciate ur "concern" for others, but my car is in compliance with the state law in missouri..visible from 50 feet in the daylight, mine are far brighter. i never had a comment that said they were too dark anyway...and judging from your picture, mine are lighter than yours in the daylight.... Don't go getting defensive, you brought up that your lights were dim and your glass was dark!! Not us.......chill.If you can't accept criticism without getting your panties in a wad, don't post.I personally think it's stupid to darken glass and lenses. We live in a world of crazy traffic and distracted drivers where you and your car need to be SEEN. Doing what you've done simply works against that.Dave

[Blanco_Diablo]

Been wanting to tint mine for a while...looks good! I know there are opinions on both sides of the tinted tails discussion, but try driving in the state of Georgia (lived in Savannah for 6 years)... no inspection means no tail lights at all at times It's not like the pic above is with the brakes on...since they are legal in Missouri I say go for it!

[A Psycho Martyr]

Whew...back up man. Just offering an opinion because I didn't realise how dark I had actually went on MINE til it was mentioned in my thread. I double checked and decided to fix it. And like they said...chill. Look at my posts on there if you don't think i took some bashing on my tails as well. Maintain your composure boss, this is a HAPPY site And honestly, I agree with Blanco_Diablo...if it's legal..DO IT! It looks a LOT better than stock and you did a good job.

[beemerphile1]

You're correct Ram_charged, I don't know anything about the laws in Misery. I realize that you don't share my opinion and guess what, I am perfectly fine with that and not offended. Why are you offended, you asked for opinions by posting.One thing I do know is that the lights were designed by well paid engineers to provide optimal visibility under a variety of conditions. Apparently you believe that you are smarter and better educated than those engineers and the Department of Transportation that approved the OEM lights.As for legality, I would probably bet that your lights are now illegal in all 50 states. The law requires a certain number of square inches of reflective material on the rear of all cars. You just painted over those reflectors. The OEM taillights are designed to do double duty as lights and reflectors.Whether legal or not, you just made your lights more difficult to see and if someone rear ends you, guess what, they will probably be suing you for obscuring your lights.

[djkeev]

And you are right!! These darkened lights do indeed violate federal law, Standard 108.http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/...8.pdfPage after page after page after page after page of them!Add to that, you ever notice EVERY tail light is the exact same color? That isn't an accident of plastic tinting, that is a DOT standard (molded on every tail light).Your tinted lenses no longer meet the DOT standard as well.And I agree, If I rear ended you and your lights are altered, I would indeed sue, and most likely win and now I own your house........all so you could look cool and different.Dave

[ram_charged]

actually i dont have tinted windows, that was michaeluhl's post.....Quote, originally posted by MichaelUhl »that would help with my dark tinted windows, i always am scared of running down someone at night

[A Psycho Martyr]

ram_charged you haven't left us have you?

[glennpert]

What is the best way to take the badges off? I have wanted to do this, but never knew what to use.

[Wolfman213]

Patience and fishing line is what I used. The remaining adhesive I just rolled off then used some WD-40 to clean up the area of any residue goo.