Product Review: Lake Country's New "LC-3401 Backing Plate System"

[Tru_Shine]

I am proud to bring to you this product review of the NEW Backing Plate System for the FLEX 3401 VRG by Lake Country

This new backing plate system gives you the choice of swapping out backing plates for your Flex 3401 from the factory 5.5 to a 4" or 6"


Why is this called a System you ask?

This new "System" includes 1 main geared backing plate that will attach to the gear housing of the FLEX.

And the other part of the backing plate attaches to it

here it is with the 6.5" backing plate (*Note* the 6.5" backing plate will not be manufactured, a 6" backing plate will be coming with the kit out instead)

Here are the backing plates on a few different types of pads.

(6.5" BP on the 6.5" PFW pad) Which I LOVED but used a lot of back muscle to work it but gave amazing cut

Here is the 6.5" PFW pad on the Factory 5.5" BP to show you the difference

Here is where it gets real good! a 4in Backing Plate on the FLEX 3401, I know a lot of you are going to be excited to try this out and it really make a big difference when using the 4in pads on the Flex. you can really control the machine a lot better and it uses A LOT less Back Muscle to work it.



Here is the 4in Tang pad on the New Backing plate

here it is with the 4" PFW pad

And here it is with the 5.5in Tangerine pad (For those who have a lot of 5.5" pads it works great and still leaves room around the edge of the pad instead of being right on the edge like the factory 5.5" BP

Here is the Factory 5.5" backing plate with the 5.5" Tang pad (Notice how the BP is all the way on the edge of the pad leaving no cushion for the pad and the chance of damaging the vehicle if you were to get to close to an corner or somthing)

4" PFW pad on the 4" BP

5.5 tang pad in use on the 4" BP

While I was at SEMA this year, I got to meet up and discuss some of my thoughts on this product and ask a few questions with one of Lake Country's Finest, Eric Dunn


Some of the questions I had

1. Why design a backing plate that has two Pieces? This was one of my first questions, Why this design? and Eric replied back with a great answer.

Answer: Why not reduce some of the cost for Both the Consumer, and the Manufacturer? the piece with the gearing that attaches to the FLEX housing is a VERY expensive part to design and get manufactured. So imagine having to build on the second piece with the Velcro onto EVERY SINGLE Backing plate. What if you wanted a 6" and you have already bought the 4". Now you have to buy the second one? that can get pretty pricey for the customer to buy, and the manufacturer to make it.


My Thoughts:
This is why this design is great, you have one gear piece and you can order 4" backing plates or 6" backing plates and it cuts down the cost because you will already have the most expensive part (the Gear piece).
So all in all, I love this design. it will be cheaper in the long run, only having to buy a cheaper adapter instead of buying a whole backing plate that is only set with one size..... (And who knows, maybe other sizes will come out in the future, like the factory size 5.5" and you will already have the gear piece. that would be a lot cheaper then buying the Factory FLEX backing plate for $30)



Some of my other thoughts:

1. I love having the ability to swap out to a 4" BP, sometimes you just need to get into a smaller tighter area and still get the FLEX results.

2. I like using the PFW pad with a bigger backing plate as it gives me more control behind the cut.

3. in the future it will cost less for me to have different backing plates or replacement backing plates versus buying expensive FLEX brand of BP


I am still using these products testing their limits and keeping in touch with Eric at LC. I will be very excited to see these released, Lake country has put a lot into the design and quality of this product and I am doing my best to test it's limits and see how I can help improve it in any way that I can.



I hope you enjoyed this review. there will be more product reviews coming in the future.


-Eric Witt of Tru Shine Detailing

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[Setec Astronomy]

Man, some of those pictures of the 4" PFW it looks like you've got a troll strapped onto the buffer! When you talk about the potential cost savings of only having to buy the velcro part...well, that would be great, but it seems that it will only be sold as the 3-pc kit, at least that's how I understood it.

 

[BobbyG]

Eric,

I like the review and detailed photos that clearly illustrate what the new system consists of and how it goes together. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the purple foam wool pads on the 3401?

Thanks for taking the time to put this all together....rops:

 

[tw33k2514]

Great review!

Well put together, and great pictures. The new backing plate system for the Flex looks outstanding.

 

[Slava]

Eric, great review. Being a two piece system, is there any wobble in between the two pieces?

 

[Pats300zx]

Great review Eric. Thanks for putting that together.

 

[Marc08EX]

Great review Eric. It's great that you were able to beta test the new BP system for the 3401. Do you know when it will become available?

 

[Rix6]

I received an email from customer service informing me that my preorder was expected to ship at the end of February. Shortly after, the date on the AG store page changed from what was early January 2012 to what is now late February. I don't know if this means delivery of the first production run is delayed or if it's simply been spoken for. Maybe the early birds will have their orders show up early Jan?

All I know is I won't be able to use 4" pads on my Flex until March. Does anybody have a Flex Edge adapter they are willing to sell me?

 

[CEE DOG]

Thanks for the review, nice work!

Rick, pm sent

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

I ordered my 3401 BP's on December 6th. If they're pushed back to the end of February, I will be pissed! That's 2 months longer than expected when I ordered. I'm going to call AG this morning.

Eric, on a side note, are you saying the smaller 4" PFW didn't work well with the 4" backing plate?

 

[Tru_Shine]

Man, some of those pictures of the 4" PFW it looks like you've got a troll strapped onto the buffer! When you talk about the potential cost savings of only having to buy the velcro part...well, that would be great, but it seems that it will only be sold as the 3-pc kit, at least that's how I understood it.

I believe right now it will be released as a 3 piece kit, but that doesn't mean that these are the only sizes of backing plates that Lake Country is coming out with.

Eric,

I like the review and detailed photos that clearly illustrate what the new system consists of and how it goes together. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the purple foam wool pads on the 3401?

Thanks for taking the time to put this all together....rops:

The PFW pad on the FLEX was my tried and true method before all of these surbuff pads and Microfiber DA pads came out. and still to this day, there are just some cars and some situations that I have to pull out the PFW to get the job done right.

Great review!

Well put together, and great pictures. The new backing plate system for the Flex looks outstanding.

So far it has been very cool to use the 4" on the flex, and the 6.5 that i used (Which will now be a 6" in the kit) gave more coverage and control of the PFW pad, but I'll still have to test out the 6", either way, it's a cool product since there aren't many parts out for the FLEX 3401

Eric, great review. Being a two piece system, is there any wobble in between the two pieces?

No, So far there's no wobble between the two pieces, it is a very snug "snap in to place" type of feel to th two pieces. But this is what I am here to find out. how long will the products last, I know the FLEX is a rough machine on factory BP's and foam pads. So I am here to use it in the field and test it out and make sure it last.

Great review Eric. Thanks for putting that together.

no problemo Pat.:xyxthumbs:

Great review Eric. It's great that you were able to beta test the new BP system for the 3401. Do you know when it will become available?

I am not sure, I do know that we are still testing it's limits and have found some weaknesses in the original 6.5" BP. so as of now we are still making some adjustments. Lake country will not put this on the market until they know that it is 100% up to their standards. but from what I have used it shouldn't be to far away.

 

[The Pad Man]

Eric, Great review. The plates should be available late Feb. The original design was for a 6.5 inch plate, which we changed to 6 inch plate, so that lengthened my release of the product. I apologize for that.

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

Eric, Great review. The plates should be available late Feb. The original design was for a 6.5 inch plate, which we changed to 6 inch plate, so that lengthened my release of the product. I apologize for that.

When I pre-ordered the BP's the first week of December, with a release date of early January, the 6" BP was already the plan. I clearly remember that. Money is going back on my card. I'll put out $50 bucks when they're actually released.

 

[The Pad Man]

The first version was actually mismaked as a 6" plate when it was actually a 6.5" plate.

 

[WRAPT C5Z06]

The first version was actually mismaked as a 6" plate when it was actually a 6.5" plate.

Why did you ever consider a 6.5" BP, when the velcro loop of 6.5" LC pads(or most 6.5" foam pads) have a 6" diameter?

 

[The Pad Man]

We wanted to machine to be a little more versatile and us larger pads, but then decided against it.

 

[Tru_Shine]

I ordered my 3401 BP's on December 6th. If they're pushed back to the end of February, I will be pissed! That's 2 months longer than expected when I ordered. I'm going to call AG this morning.

Eric, on a side note, are you saying the smaller 4" PFW didn't work well with the 4" backing plate?

No, I love the 4" backing plate with the 4" PFW, I love the whole 4" set up on the Flex, its a whole different machine with the smaller head on it. and it uses a lot less back muscle to control it.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Excellent review and great pictures! :dblthumb2:

1. I love having the ability to swap out to a 4" BP, sometimes you just need to get into a smaller tighter area and still get the FLEX results.

I agree... from this thread,

1959 Chevrolet El Camino - Extreme Makeover - Modeled by Christina



Jeff machine polishing with a Flex 3401 and a 4" Tangerine Hydro-Tech Polishing Pad

Jeff machine waxing the hood with a Flex 3401 and a 6.5" Crimson HD Finishing Pad

:buffing:

 

[Tru_Shine]

edited: double post

 

[Tru_Shine]

Excellent review and great pictures! :dblthumb2:





I agree... from this thread,

1959 Chevrolet El Camino - Extreme Makeover - Modeled by Christina



Jeff machine polishing with a Flex 3401 and a 4" Tangerine Hydro-Tech Polishing Pad

Jeff machine waxing the hood with a Flex 3401 and a 6.5" Crimson HD Finishing Pad

:buffing:

Thanks for that helpful post Mike, that will help shine a little more light on the product. this is definitely nice accessory to have in the arsenal.