Windshield distortion after tint (wavy)?

[atlbeast]

Hi friends, I recently had my windshield tinted with 55% ceramic film and afterwards I am seeing a “wavy” effect out the window, mostly more apparent when looking at lines on the road. As you move your head slightly up and down, it almost looks like the effect of heat waves that come up off a hot road. I brought the truck back to the installer after a week (to ensure it wasn’t stuck moisture) and he confirmed he sees the same effect. He inspected the film and saw no defect and it is the same film he applied on the side windows that doesn’t have the effect, leading him to believe it is my windshield that has the wavy defect and the tint has made it more apparent. I brought it to the tint shop nearly brand new after 3 days, and I never noticed any waviness prior to dropping it off to tint.

Has anyone seen any wavy appearance through their windshield? Has anyone had anything like this occur after tinting?

Appreciate all your perspectives!

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[tmeyer3]

I'm not sure what your guy is smoking but slight distortion after a fresh tint is completely normal, especially on large panel glass. It should clear up after the tint has had some time to heat/cool cycle a few times. If it doesn't clear up after 48 hours of outside time, then I'd get it checked out.

This occurs when there's slight variations in the film thickness from uneven heating or defect. The changes in thickness produce different refractive indexes along the film, causing the wave. It's also perfectly possible that it's your glass, but it sounds like you would have noticed it before the tint if it was.

Depending on the tint this can be anything from nearly unnoticeable on thin films like ceramics to really bad like on some of the thicker films made for security stuff. But all of them should clear up to crystal clear if it's a quality material intended for automotive glass. The worst distortion I've seen is on really thick static cling films, but as a bonus you can take them off and put them back on to troll the cops!

 

[atlbeast]

I did not see any of this distortion before the film being applied, and waited a week and placed the truck out in the sun to let the tint “bake” and sadly still see the distortion lines. Wondering if I should essentially have them remove the film to check for the wavy lines without it and ask them to reapply it vs. living with it as-is. Thinking I may go see another cybertruck at Tesla to look through the windshield and confirm no distortion first…or find another owner in the ATL area with a windshield tint to see if I see the same thing.

 

[TyPope]

I did not see any of this distortion before the film being applied, and waited a week and placed the truck out in the sun to let the tint “bake” and sadly still see the distortion lines. Wondering if I should essentially have them remove the film to check for the wavy lines without it and ask them to reapply it vs. living with it as-is. Thinking I may go see another cybertruck at Tesla to look through the windshield and confirm no distortion first…or find another owner in the ATL area with a windshield tint to see if I see the same thing.

When I had my "other" truck's windshield tinted, it was wavy for a few days but then, once all the water evaporated between the film and the windshield, it was basically invisible.

 

[Paul Scott]

I had the waviness when mine was tinted as well. I took it back to have them look at it and they redid it because apparently a bad batch of tint went out. I should have my truck back this week and see if I can tell the difference with the new tint.

 

[Deleted member 17810]

Windshield tint needs to be specifically optically clear variety.

 

[atlbeast]

I had the waviness when mine was tinted as well. I took it back to have them look at it and they redid it because apparently a bad batch of tint went out. I should have my truck back this week and see if I can tell the difference with the new tint.

thank you! Glad to know it is not just mine. Please let me know if yours comes back better and if so what brand and kind of tint they used. Thanks again.

 

[AdmiralS]

I had some waviness for the first 48 hours like mentioned above, but disappeared after the moisture dried.

The only thing I notice now, is at night there is a slight distortion of oncoming headlights

Everything else is clear, just the headlights are wavy

 

[vinsk]

Mine was wavy on Model Y! Took few weeks before it became clear.

 

[Paul Scott]

thank you! Glad to know it is not just mine. Please let me know if yours comes back better and if so what brand and kind of tint they used. Thanks again.

Mine is Llumar Formula One Stratos Nano Ceramic Tint. https://llumar.com/na/en/automotive/window-tint/ceramic/formulaone-stratos/

Hopefully I will get the truck back today. They redid the windshield tint, wrapped it in PPF, and Ceramic coated it.

 

[vinsk]

Mine was wavy on Model Y! Took few weeks before it became clear.

Mine was Xpel prime XR plus @55, mostly noticeable during nights. My CT is the same brand/type at 45 but it didn't have this issue.

 

[tmeyer3]

Mine is AutoZone 5% Gila static cling tint ? $30 for all side windows

 

[bdmridgeback]

I did not see any of this distortion before the film being applied, and waited a week and placed the truck out in the sun to let the tint “bake” and sadly still see the distortion lines. Wondering if I should essentially have them remove the film to check for the wavy lines without it and ask them to reapply it vs. living with it as-is. Thinking I may go see another cybertruck at Tesla to look through the windshield and confirm no distortion first…or find another owner in the ATL area with a windshield tint to see if I see the same thing.

What brand and series of tint did you have installed on your windshield?

 

[atlbeast]

Hey brother, how is your windshield tint? Any waves or distortion?

Mine is Llumar Formula One Stratos Nano Ceramic Tint. https://llumar.com/na/en/automotive/window-tint/ceramic/formulaone-stratos/

Hopefully I will get the truck back today. They redid the windshield tint, wrapped it in PPF, and Ceramic coated it.

 

[mrmeta]

I've currently got SunTek CIR 80% that was installed about 3 weeks ago. I get the same wavy distortion, plus at night the incoming headlights have a starbust /chromatic abbertion effect that is quite distracting. Will likely get it redone next week.

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