Flex 3401 backing plate, pads and more?

[LAKings22]

The pads I currently have for my Flex 3401 is the Lake country CCS 6.5" pads 3 orange, 3 white, black, blue, red. Before I put in a order for new pads, I have a few questions.

What pads work best with the Flex 3401?

Do I order more 6.5" pads or go with 4" backing plate and order a new set of 5" pads?

I'm getting ready to detail my black 2012 chevy tahoe (no heavy scratches, just alot of swirls). The products on deck is the wolfgang uber compound, swirl remover, gloss sealant 3.0 and today I ordered Menzerna 400 and 4000. I'm planning on doing couple of test spots to see which works best.

If I use the WG compound the swirl remover and finish with gloss or use the Menzerna 400 then 4000 and finish with WG gloss sealant, what else will I need to do for extra shine and protection?

Thanks in advance.

[big dave 666]

hi

first of all its a pleasure to be on the AG forum. I am based in England and have been around detailing for some time. Anyway to answer your questions. I have the Flex 3401 which is a great tool and use the 5 inch lake country hybrid pads along with the lake country backing plate system...makes the 3401 a very versatile tool in my opinion...for the extra shine why not go for the wolfgang paintwork polish enhancer and the wolfgang glaze, a great combo i have used many times......all the best Dave

[LAKings22]

hi

first of all its a pleasure to be on the AG forum. I am based in England and have been around detailing for some time. Anyway to answer your questions. I have the Flex 3401 which is a great tool and use the 5 inch lake country hybrid pads along with the lake country backing plate system...makes the 3401 a very versatile tool in my opinion...for the extra shine why not go for the wolfgang paintwork polish enhancer and the wolfgang glaze, a great combo i have used many times......all the best Dave

Thanks Dave. What is the advantage using the 5" vs 6.5"?

[Mike Phillips]

From my how-to book on using the Flex 3401










Lots of pad options with the Hybrid line for the Flex 3401.

[Kamakaz1961]

IMO The Lake Country Hybrid Pads work the best for the Flex 3401. I have my CCS pads as back ups now that I have tried the Hybrid Pads. I have the 6.5" Hybrids and the 5" Hybrids. I prefer the 6.5" Hybrids as it covers more area. However, the 5" Hybrids give you more "finesse" to correct.

Get the Lake Country Backing Plate System for its versatility.

I believe the Hybrid Pads were made specifically for the Flex 3401.

Once you try the Hybrid Pads you will not use another for your Flex.

Again, my opinion.

[big dave 666]

Hi
Just makes it easier for smaller areas of the vehicle if this isn't a problem go with the 6.5 inch.......we can only get the 5 inch over here didn't know 6.5 inch were available. They've only been in the uk for a couple of months via one seller....motorgeek :-)

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks Dave. What is the advantage using the 5" vs 6.5"?

Smaller pads fit modern cars better because most modern cars have thin body panel section.

For example the edge of the hood - paint - raised body line. Since you don't normally want to buff on edges and raised body lines 5" pads fit modern cars better than larger pads.

It's actually nice to have both options.

Also, smaller pads make any tool easier to use.

[North26]

Pretty simple really. With a larger pad you will have less cutting area per sq in.

A = pi r squared

The 6.5 has roughly 33.2 sq in of surface area. The 5 has roughly 20 sq in of surface area.

(Now I'm not sure whether to use power output or opm's but I will stick with power.)

Anyways the flex outputs 590 watts. To figure out how many watts per sq in divide watts by sq in.

6.5 = 17.8 watts per sq in
5 = 29.5 watts per sq in

So with that said you can say that 29.5 watts per square will have more cutting power than 17.8 because you are getting more power in a smaller surface. This means for you that it will take less work to achieve desirable results. Kinda counter intuitive because larger = faster but not really. Larger = less powerful = longer.

Hope I helped

[LAKings22]

Thanks everyone. I ordered 4" backing plate with 5" hybrid orange (2) blue (3) white (2) pads and 6.5" hybrid 3 orange and 3 blue pads. Now I have a bunch of pads. I think I have more pads then I need at the moment but I am really considering detailing on the weekends for some extra cash, if it looks promising then maybe even a full time business.