Meg MF Pad Sizes

**tcope** · 05-20-2020, 12:57 PM

Let me start by saying, this was a mistake that _I_ made and I'll own it. I recently bought a polisher with a 5" backing plate. Wanted to pick up some microfiber pads and I saw some Meg's 6" pads. Thought 1/2" overhang... perfect. Some of you know where I'm going with this. Yup... Meg's "6 inch" pad is really 6.5". WTH! If I wanted a 6.5" pad I would have bought a 6.5" pad! Megs, please don't take guesses at what your customer really wants instead of what you advertize. A 6" pad is _NOT_ 6.5"!

Now I get that the small print says it is actually 6.5" but come on. I'm looking at a ton of products to determine what I want to buy. Also, if you say it is a 6" pad... it should _be_ a 6" pad!

**Bruno Soares** · 05-20-2020, 01:06 PM

Rupes does similar stuff. They sell it by face size in their case, so you have to end up buying a larger size that will have the right size on the back of the pad.

**Eldorado2k** · 05-20-2020, 02:03 PM

That’s a minor gripe... You wanna know when it’s an even bigger problem? When Lake Country decided to go tree hugger with their previously large and in charge 7” HDO Orbital Pads and make them smaller for no good reason at all down to what? 6.5”? Or is it actually 6” now? It’s been a while and I’ll save myself the aggravation and not measure them again because I loved the larger original HDO pads.

You can see the size difference between the original and the millennial versions.

It’s even worse from this angle..

The backside stayed the same, but now it’s like settling for a “large” drink from Mcdonalds when you really wanted that 128oz. Super Double Gulp cold beverage like those days when you’re outside polishing a Chevy Suburban all afternoon in the hot sun.

My Cadillac, big.
Trucks are big.
My Boss 21 polisher is big, it’s also powerfull, that’s the whole reason why I bought it, to be able to handle the big jobs like a Boss and be mentioned in the same breath as a rotary. Didn’t want no smaller pads... Who’s eco friendly idea was that?! Grrr.

If I wanted smaller pads I would’ve bought a smaller polisher[G15] Rant over. Lol.

**tcope** · 05-27-2020, 10:53 AM

At first the "6 inch", sorry 6.25 inch pads were working on the 5 inch backing plate but after a wash or two they became unstable on the plate at best and Frisbees at worse. I measured by Flex plate and it was under 6 inches as well. Ordered some new ones from AG but (at first) UPS was reporting that they would take awhile to get here (AG shipped them out right away). I recalled that people used to punch down pads so I thought I'd try cutting one. It actually worked out just fine. I took a moment to remove all of the loose edges and everything else stuck just fine. So I had a couple to work with. My new ones arrive today.

**Eldorado2k** · 05-27-2020, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by tcope

At first the "6 inch", sorry 6.25 inch pads were working on the 5 inch backing plate but after a wash or two they became unstable on the plate at best and Frisbees at worse. I measured by Flex plate and it was under 6 inches as well. Ordered some new ones from AG but (at first) UPS was reporting that they would take awhile to get here (AG shipped them out right away). I recalled that people used to punch down pads so I thought I'd try cutting one. It actually worked out just fine. I took a moment to remove all of the loose edges and everything else stuck just fine. So I had a couple to work with. My new ones arrive today.

Iirc the Meguiars microfiber pads were intentionally made to be slightly larger than the backing plates they’re meant to pair with [Megs backing plates]

The reason I’m pretty certain that’s the case is because I remember asking Mike Stoops what I should be with my original HF DA 6” backing plate and he told me that of all backing plates that 1 is an exact fit to the 6” Megs microfiber pads. No other BP is the same exact size as those pads.

**tcope** · 05-27-2020, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by Eldorado2k

Iirc the Meguiars microfiber pads were intentionally made to be slightly larger than the backing plates they’re meant to pair with [Megs backing plates]

The reason I’m pretty certain that’s the case is because I remember asking Mike Stoops what I should be with my original HF DA 6” backing plate and he told me that of all backing plates that 1 is an exact fit to the 6” Megs microfiber pads. No other BP is the same exact size as those pads.

I can understand and would want them to be just slightly bigger. The problem I have is that the Meg packaging has huge type stating that they are 6" pad. In smaller type way under that is the truth.. they are 6.25". Meg's 6" pads really mean that they fit a 6" _backing plate_. When you buy a tire, do you expect to get the size you actually ordered or that the manufacturer is actually fudging the size as they know better what you want? When I have a 5" backing plate _I_ should know that the 5" pad won't have any overhang or the 5.5" pad will have a 1/4" overhang. If I screw up the size, that is on me. But if Megs is not really truthful, I think they open the door for a little blame. If I have a 5" backplate, get a 5" pad and then complain that there is not overhang, would anyone blame the manufacture for this? Nope. They customer got _exactly_ what they ordered and knew full well that they were the same size.

I live and I learn. Not the end of the world. I cut them down and they seem to work just fine.

**Eldorado2k** · 05-27-2020, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by tcope

I can understand and would want them to be just slightly bigger. The problem I have is that the Meg packaging has huge type stating that they are 6" pad. In smaller type way under that is the truth.. they are 6.25". Meg's 6" pads really mean that they fit a 6" _backing plate_. When you buy a tire, do you expect to get the size you actually ordered or that the manufacturer is actually fudging the size as they know better what you want? When I have a 5" backing plate _I_ should know that the 5" pad won't have any overhang or the 5.5" pad will have a 1/4" overhang. If I screw up the size, that is on me. But if Megs is not really truthful, I think they open the door for a little blame. If I have a 5" backplate, get a 5" pad and then complain that there is not overhang, would anyone blame the manufacture for this? Nope. They customer got _exactly_ what they ordered and knew full well that they were the same size.

I live and I learn. Not the end of the world. I cut them down and they seem to work just fine.

No, there’s a good reason they’re made that way... You said it yourself that you’d want those pads to be slightly bigger so that tells me you already get it.

Just about every pad I can think of has a good reason for either being an exact fit to the backing plate and tapered bigger on the actual face of the pad/or sometimes as in this case, the reason those Megs microfiber pads were designed that way is for them to be able to contour into edges and corners with enough pressure to maintain their same consistent correcting ability when paired with a firm backing plate. [which happens to be above average compared to foam pads]

Then there’s pads which truly are an exact fit from front to back, i.e. Lake Country 3” Flat Foam Pads.

Those are the only exact fit to the inch pads I can think of off the top of my head.^

I hear what you’re saying, but with all due respect it’s really not worth complaining about, because this really is a case where the manufacturers know what you want better than you do.