Fired up 3401 for the first time...

Yes you can. They don't teach that in college, it's a gift. I worked in radio for 42 years and the writing I have seen made me wonder how many years of grade school they completed. You would be very good for product description.
 
fightnews said:
because most of us can't afford to buy all four in one shot...
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Not sure what that has to do with it - its about comparing like with like. Regardless of if I could afford a banana & an apple, I can't compare an apple with anything other than an apple.

Anyhow, great post OP, pleased you're happy & enjoying your Flex. :props:

Aaryn NZ.
 
Great review. The Flex 3401 was my first polisher along with a PC 7424 XP.

I love the Flex and I am 61. I don't think I am ready to go 8 hours at a stretch, but I love the forced rotation.
 
AZ Mike said:
Great review. The Flex 3401 was my first polisher along with a PC 7424 XP.

I love the Flex and I am 61. I don't think I am ready to go 8 hours at a stretch, but I love the forced rotation.
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I hear ya, I'm almost 66 and to go 4 hours is enough for me. I'm concentrating on headlights and taking out scratches.
 
I have the griots gg6 and thinking about getting the flex 3401 and match it with the 5 inch pads. They work well with thin pads? And good for machine waxing?
 
man ..some guys just know how to write a great/ enjoyable and amusing review..thank you for the colorful humor.

i have an incoming flex 3401 and will post a review, once it lands and i fire it up
 
Toolhead said:
man ..some guys just know how to write a great/ enjoyable and amusing review..thank you for the colorful humor.

i have an incoming flex 3401 and will post a review, once it lands and i fire it up
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Thanks for the kind words.

As I've used both the Flex and the Rupes, I just seem to kinda naturally pick which to use...no clear favorite has emerged yet. Just when I think the Flex is the best all-around, I pick up the Rupes and then get tossed back into the land of indecision. For me anyway, it's apparent the Flex is easier to use from a technique standpoint; the Rupes does have a definite learning curve but it's worth the effort because that thing is just so smooth. Once ya kinda get a grip on the Flex, it really doesn't seem to be much more abusive to me than the GG6 was, aside from perhaps the weight perspective. The biggest thing for me was not trying to 'stretch the section' with the Flex; gotta stay on top of the Flex in a 'physical presence' sense and all remains well. I will say that nothing is quicker (for me) than when the vehicle allows me to use the 6.5" pads....the Flex just kills it in that case.

Right now I'm polishing off last year's coating (Wolfgang Uber Ceramic) on a 2016 Black Subaru WRX and once I found that a white polishing pad w/ M205 would do the job, there was no doubt that the Flex was gonna be used for that step; 4 passes and it's good to go with respect to coating removal. The car does have some curves and other places that the Rupes would stall with incorrect/lazy technique and, for the coating removal stage, I'm more interested in pad to paint effectiveness than I am with final finish (will be using the Rupes to finish polish although the Flex, M205 and white Force Hybrid foam pad is leaving a pretty darn good finish itself in addition to removing the coating).

Since it was winter here in NE Ohio, spend the past few months correcting/coating work vans as it's the only place (indoors, heated warehouse) that I could use the machines; if the vans had a lot of recesses, body lines and contours (i.e a 2016 Ford Transit...may look flat but it really has some recesses/nuances to the body panels) I used the Flex because, well, 'production detailing' and all and I could just jam the pad into the recesses to get the desired results. A 2014 Ford Econoline van on the other hand, *is* pretty much flat so the Rupes worked well on those and was much easier to use in a physical sense.

So, after all these words, 'it depends' as far as which machine I'll use. Pretty safe bet if I get a vehicle that is totally beat, the Flex will do the initial compounding and the Rupes will do the polishing. That said, given the constant rotation of the Flex, I seem to prefer SMAT liquids with it as 4 passes usually takes care of whatever I need, compound-wise....no need to ratchet that up with a DAT compound which would likely require more passes to break down. M101 w/ a gray Force pad can really take care of business on the Flex and M205 with a white does a really good job of finishing as well...with minimal amount of passes required.

Maybe it boils down to 'FLEX = FAST, Rupes = Fun'. Whatever it is, I'm sure glad I got the Flex in addition to the Rupes...definitely no regrets.

FWIW, here's some phone-camera shots of the black WRX I used M205 w/ Flex to remove coating; paint was in great shape before coating removal but I think the Flex/M205 amped it up a bit more (car was corrected last year w/ GG6, LC flat (orange and white) and WG TSR and FG 3.0). By the time I'm done and car is re-coated, gonna be the shiniest orange peel around!
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