Truck wont pass inspection - Texas

[ballsie]

I went to have my truck inspected today and they came out and said dont bother.. it wont pass. Said i cant have ANY tint on my tail lights. I told him that the lights were brighter than any tail light in his parking lot. He said it doesnt matter - They wont pass. That they have to be red. With that in mind, i dont see how all those clear tail lights would pass. Does anyone know about this sort of thing? Here is a pic of my tail lights - They are LED and Bright as hell:
http://www.parkplacewindows.com/jon/yukon/taillights%20003.jpg

Here is a pic with just the tail lights without the brakes:
http://www.parkplacewindows.com/jon/yukon/taillights%20002.jpg

[HMFDZ28]

soooo why not put the stockers in and get it inspected and then swap the others back in lol

[Modded]

Hey man, I live in Texas and they're right. When I had blackeout tails (now have LEDs) I went by a local Kwik Kar and asked if I could pass and they said no. No tint is supposedly allowed, but got to somebody in a rough area and they will pass you. I passed inspection with smoked sidemarkers and illegal front wondows with no issues at a Chevy dealerrship lol.
Plus if they want to uphold that BS law so much, they're are always to get inspection stickers with no checking lol!

[JKmotorsports]

Hey Jon, give me a call if you want to borrow mine for the inspection.

[chistoso]

I went to have my truck inspected today and they came out and said dont bother.. it wont pass. Said i cant have ANY tint on my tail lights. I told him that the lights were brighter than any tail light in his parking lot. He said it doesnt matter - They wont pass. That they have to be red. With that in mind, i dont see how all those clear tail lights would pass. Does anyone know about this sort of thing? Here is a pic of my tail lights - They are LED and Bright as hell:
http://www.parkplacewindows.com/jon/yukon/taillights%20003.jpg

Here is a pic with just the tail lights without the brakes:
http://www.parkplacewindows.com/jon/yukon/taillights%20002.jpg

How did you get both parts of the LED's ti light up with the parking lights.. We have the exact same ones and mine only light up at the top part the bottom is only for brakes, top is parking and signals.

Sorry about your dilemma, hopefully someone local can come thru and help ya out..

[ballsie]

How did you get both parts of the LED's ti light up with the parking lights.

I think i had the hazard lights on when i took that pic.


Anyway, I just took it to a shop by my house and the guy passed it with no questions.. I actually asked him if they were gonna be a problem and he said as long as they work it will be fine.

Thanks for the offer JK, but i am good to go. I was kinda hoping he would fail the exhaust so i could pick up a magnaflow.. oh well.

[brndns_hoe]

what do u mean by clear ones? taillights? that still shine red right? cos they are clear, not hindering the red light emitting. in texas, the rears have to be red or amber, in front, amber or with(for example, clear corners are legal). and tx regs don't say no tint, but that the light can't be hindered at all, and that's how they answer the question of if tint is legal. then again, when i did inspections, i noticed for window tint, it couldn't be less than 20% light, but the stores tell you 35%. I think the cops can get you for less than 35 but for inspection purposes it's 20.

---------- Post added at 04:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:55 PM ----------

haha, i just wrote all that, then saw you just posted saying you got it taken care of. some inspectors will let it go, some won't. at least you didn't have to go through the trouble of switching them out temporarily, makes life easier

[wmgood64]

What next?? They will pass some law on how many times you hump-up in a day!!!!

[brndns_hoe]

hahaha, and with cameras to monitor you and make sure you don't exceed the limit

[wmgood64]

that's a big 10-4!!!!!!!!!!!

[NJ04HOE]

soooo why not put the stockers in and get it inspected and then swap the others back in lol

That's what I do every two years with my truck and my wifes car, all stock lights for no more than an hour then i'm back to normal.

[DESIGN]

Just to all my fellow Texans: never go to Kwik Kar lube and tune for state inspections. They don't seem like they ever want any business. Wanted to have them change the manual tranny fluid in another car but wanted them to use the Redline MT-90 that I had. They said that they had liablity issues with using customer's fluid. Asked them if they could buy the fluid I wanted and they said no. Another time they would pass a car because it had a front tint banner on it. Just in general not helpful.

[JKmotorsports]

That's what I do every two years with my truck and my wifes car, all stock lights for no more than an hour then i'm back to normal.
Your inspection is only every two yrs? Damn, I wish ours was.

[ballsie]

Just to all my fellow Texans: never go to Kwik Kar lube and tune for state inspections.

Kwik Kar was the place that said it wouldnt pass.. I really think the guy was being lazy. I asked him how long the wait was and he replied with, "There are 2 people ahead of you, but your wasting your time because Its not going to pass."

The irritating parts about it is that these lights are not "too dark." I really want them as black as night, but i was afraid of inspection - among other things. My old lights were WAY darker.

[brndns_hoe]

that's what suprised me, they're not that dark, think he was just on a power trip..and lazy as you said

[Modded]

Haha looks like I've confirmed the boys at Kwik Kar are assholes!

[Max]

Damn that sucks dude. I haven't had any issues and mine are black as fuck.

[hapyspaz]

Different laws in different states.

Not to defend to Kwik Kar employees (I used to be one), they are just doing their job on inspections. The laws states that there can be no tinting, aka, blackouts, on the front or rear lights. Clear lenses are only okay if the lights themselves have the proper colored lenses or are themselves amber (signal) or red (brake/tail) in color.

I believe tint has to actually have 30% visibility on the driver and passenger front doors. Windshield tint visors cannot be below the DOT line that is marked on every windshield, and cannot not be colored ( I think there were a couple colors that could pass). Tint any where else on windows does not have a regulation.

They guys at the first place are just covering their ass, I was a state inspector for 10 years, and you dont want to get caught by a DPS test car. Lose your license, get fined, and possibly jail time.

Next time you get an inspection and someone is scrutinizing over every little thing on your car, you should be thankful. It is people like them that are keeping safer cars on the road. Also keep in mind if they pass your inspection, you kill someone in a car accident, one of the first things the police look at is the inspection sticker. If it is new, and they determing the inspector passed the vehicle overlooking something that caused the accident, the inspector is now liable for the death.

[ballsie]

I can understand all that, but my lights are brighter than stock lights. I wouldnt have a problem wih it if you couldnt see my lights. I still think the guy at kwik kar was a douche. He was either lazy, wanted to get out of work at a decent hour, or just REALLY didnt like my truck...

[ItsAdam1]

damn I never heard of that, but they guys that do my inspections don't give a crap they will pass it or even help me pass by tricking the system.......

[Modded]

I agree Happyspaz and understand they are just trying to cover their asses but their is no straight forward rule aganst blackouts.
What the laws says is that their should be nothing that interferes with the amount of light produced by the tails, headlight etc.
Also you can and will pass inspection in Texas as long as your tint is not darker than 20% in the front (tint from factory) or 25% in the front (aftermarket installed tint).

[hapyspaz]

20%? Cool. Glad they raised the limit. I haven't done inspections in about 5 years.

[daxz1231]

Gotta say thats why i love florida! haha no inspection EVER!

but then you also get the POS clunkers infront of you all the time so.....

inspection states have their up's and downs i guess lol.

[Modded]

Haha yeah they do, our advantage is we know if something is screwed up on the car like O2 sensors while yall don't.
Yeah happyspaz its 20% and 25%, funny think is how do they know whats aftermarket and not, and is dealer installed considered aftermaket?
I printed out the tint laws form the DPS website so when any fucker chases me down I have back up!