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Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Mon Dec 07, 2015 11:28 pm
by haflidij
Hey there.
I was wondering what type of methood do you guys use to black out the rear lights ?.
Films or spray's anything like that ?
And also could you link it so i can check it out.
Re: Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:57 am
by Ricmondo
You are asking for advice on how to get police to pull you over and give you a ticket or give your insurers an excuse not to pay out if you are rear ended. Is that really what want? Deviate from the type approved lights at your own peril.
Re: Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 8:06 pm
by haflidij
Ricmondo wrote:You are asking for advice on how to get police to pull you over and give you a ticket or give your insurers an excuse not to pay out if you are rear ended. Is that really what want? Deviate from the type approved lights at your own peril.
There are many people where i live that have blacked out lights and the insurance company doesnt have anything to do with that, atleast not where i live. And also i wasnt asking for a lecture i was asking on how you would do it.
Thanks !
Re: Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2015 10:30 pm
by Ricmondo
Not a lecture just sharing the experience of many years.
You are quite right about insurance companies, they don't care but read and understand the small print, any deviation from manufacturers specification that has not been notified and accepted may invalidate your cover. If your car requires an MoT it should be failed if the lights are non compliant, i.e. Blackened or otherwise played about with. Blacked out lights are an absolute plod magnet, get stopped at night and you risk a prohibition notice and a walk home.
You pays your money and takes your choice, spray either chips and looks tatty or eats into the plastic which then becomes embrittled by exposure to sunlight. An appropriate film is a better way to do it as it tends not to damage the plastic and can be easily peeled off to save that walk home. Beware of darkened lenses from eBay Etc, even if they appear to have the appropriate markings they are unlikely to be homologated.
A friend of mine had a large equipment rack across the back of his Range Rover, as it obstructed his lights he used a trailer bar fixed to the rack instead of the RR lights. He was heavily shunted from behind and flipped off the road. After initially refusing to pay out the insurance company reduced his damages by 30% claiming that his modifications equated to contributory negligence. His life as a tetraplegic is now rather more difficult than it would have been with the full settlement. You are sadly deluded if you think insurance companies are happy go lucky and let you do what you want without any comeback. The insurance position in respect of blackened lenses is directly analogous and there are numerous recorded cases if you can face the boredom of wading through case law and precedence.
That's more like what I call a lecture.
Happy motoring, although I think it is plain silly to make your car less visible at night I would be hypocritical not to admit that many of my cars have had modifications that attracted the wrong sort of attention or stretched the boundaries of legality. These days I go more for anonymity, helps avoid points and fines.
Re: Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2015 11:47 am
by alexperkins
haflidij wrote:Hey there.
I was wondering what type of methood do you guys use to black out the rear lights ?.
Films or spray's anything like that ?
And also could you link it so i can check it out.
Lamin-X is a good film to use. Comes in a variety of tints.
http://www.lamin-x.com/Tail-Light-Film- ... s/1819.htm
Re: Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 1:05 am
by haflidij
alexperkins wrote:haflidij wrote:Hey there.
I was wondering what type of methood do you guys use to black out the rear lights ?.
Films or spray's anything like that ?
And also could you link it so i can check it out.
Lamin-X is a good film to use. Comes in a variety of tints.
http://www.lamin-x.com/Tail-Light-Film- ... s/1819.htm
Hey thank you for that. But i dont see any film for Polo's :/
Re: Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 6:56 am
by Willoughbyyy
If you are doing it, use fly eye tint, kinda legal however some may say it's not. Otherwise if you don't care about the legalities try a set of tights, tint spray from halfords or a light coating of black spray paint.
But from personally experience when I did this on my old Citroen, it's not worth the hassle it causes..
Re: Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 2:38 pm
by Ricmondo
You really must stop watching Police Interceptors Willoughby, light blacking is a very poor excuse for ripping your girlfriends tights off. Kinda legal, a bit like kinda pregnant?
Re: Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 4:43 pm
by alexperkins
If you contact them, they should be able to make a template. Lamin-x are an american company.
The film can be bought on a roll to cut yourself.
Re: Blacking out rear lights.
Posted: Thu Dec 10, 2015 7:23 pm
by Willoughbyyy
I've experienced it first hand so.. but either way, fly eye is the best way imo.