Why hood blackouts?

[dms1]

Prolably a dumb question, but I have seen a lot of vehicles on here with hood blackouts and never really realized what they were until I saw one mentioned in a build thread here - so the question remains - what are they for?

Thanks

 

[LandCruiserPhil]

non reflective surface

Off road racer started doing years before the expo guys

 

[matt s]

I had always wondered why all cop cars had flat black hoods, until it dawned on me one day that it was to reduce glare and eye strain by being a non reflective light absorbing surface.

 

[tibaal89]

I'd say 99% of the motivation is that it looks cool...

 

[Pskhaat]

Good surface for cooking eggs too in June.

 

[norshor]

I don't know about everyone else, but I wanted to look like a schoolbus:smiley_drive:
I put mine on, so that I will have no excuse to keep me from building a light bar on my rack. I have to say, that when I drive my wife's car, I really notice the difference. It really cuts down on glare. Now I just need to get going on a light bar.

 

[Rallyroo]

And also to cut glare if equipped with lights on the roof.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Toyota actually gave us this....by way of Decal.....back in 1988.

Mine still works! It keeps the sun glare out of your eyes, while heading west down a very steep cliff trail! So you can make it to home/camp for the night! I'm sure it works heading East....very early in the morning too!


It Works!:sombrero:



.:elkgrin:.....:victory:

 

[UK4X4]

Especially designed to increase the heat under the bonnet in order to make all the plastic and rubber bits nice and crispy on sunny days

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

Especially designed to increase the heat under the bonnet in order to make all the plastic and rubber bits nice and crispy on sunny days

Don't ruin my story! You Bugga!

Bugga You.....!


......hehe:costumed-smiley-007:victory::ylsmoke:



Mine are...........Very Kewl!:sombrero::ylsmoke:

I actually Run very cool......!




.

 

[xcmountain80]

Good surface for cooking eggs too in June.

No no that the teflon black out, like AR wheels but hard to cook eggs on that surface.

Aaron

 

[Michael Slade]

I'd say 99% of the motivation is that it looks cool...

I'd say there's a 99% chance you're incorrect. :victory:

 

[Martinjmpr]

I'd say 99% of the motivation is that it looks cool...

Sorry but that's 100% wrong.

After years of being blinded by the flat hood on my Montero I finally got sick of it and rattlecanned the hood black. It worked great.

Keep in mind that this is primarily for flat hoods. Hoods that are curved or that slope sharply away towards the front of the vehicle don't have as much of a problem.

But drive a flat-hooded vehicle towards the rising or setting sun and see how much fun it is. Your visor can block the sun, but it can't block the reflection coming up off of the hood. It's annoying and dangerous.

Also this is nothing new, I have a book called "The Off Road Handbook" that was published in 1975 or 76 that talks about doing this, that's where I got the idea from.

BTW I rattlecanned the hood black in 1999, long before I ever heard of ExPo.

 

[kellymoe]

It doesn't have to be black although it absorbs light the best. My hood is a light green flat mat paint and the tire on the hood helps too:sombrero:

 

[Sloan]

:roost: