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

[Eric_Witt]

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

[Garry Dean]

Fantastic job, Sir!

I was wondering about those bplates. I recently re-purchased a flex 3401... Long story...

I will have to place an order and get some of these.

[C. Charles Hahn]

Thanks for the review, Eric. I think you`ve convinced me to pick these up for my 3401!

[Bunky]

Thanks for the write up with the up close pics with various pads.

Interesting you show how great the new bp`s go to the edge on the PFW and 4-in pads but then make a negative comment when you show the factory 5.5-in bp and a 5.5-in pad about not enough room for safety. I just find the comment inconsistent with the rest of the write up. Or, did I just misread what you said.

[juliom2]

Direct driven possiblities...
Great pics my friend....

[Todd@RUPES]

Thanks for the write up with the up close pics with various pads.

Interesting you show how great the new bp`s go to the edge on the PFW and 4-in pads but then make a negative comment when you show the factory 5.5-in bp and a 5.5-in pad about not enough room for safety. I just find the comment inconsistent with the rest of the write up. Or, did I just misread what you said.

In the pics with the 4 inch backing plate and 4 inch PFW it looks like their is still a small amount of velcro around the lip of the backing plate. On the 5.5 inch backing plate with the tangerine the backing plate is actually slightly larger than then the velcro. I am speculating but that is what I noticed when I read the review.

Eric, great review! I have had a chance to play with the system and the design and quality if extremely high. This is definately a big score for the Club Flex guys!

[Eric_Witt]

Fantastic job, Sir!

I was wondering about those bplates. I recently re-purchased a flex 3401... Long story...

I will have to place an order and get some of these.

Thanks Garry

Thanks for the review, Eric. I think you`ve convinced me to pick these up for my 3401!

Thanks C.

Thanks for the write up with the up close pics with various pads.

Interesting you show how great the new bp`s go to the edge on the PFW and 4-in pads but then make a negative comment when you show the factory 5.5-in bp and a 5.5-in pad about not enough room for safety. I just find the comment inconsistent with the rest of the write up. Or, did I just misread what you said.

I can see how that was a little confusing, It is very hard to explain all of this in typing form, and would be a lot easier to tell you and show you in person.

I normally use the 6.5 pads on the Factory 5.5" Backing plate when I use the Flex. The 6.5 in pads give me about a half inch of "cushion" around the 5.5 BP, and when I get to an area that I could potentially hit the paint surface with BP its nice to have that "cushion". I dont use the 5.5 pads on the factory BP because I dont like taking the chance of accidentally hitting the surface with the hard edge of the BP. So this is why I gave a negative remark about the 5.5 pads on the 5.5 backing plate.

How and why this is different with the 4" backing plate and the 4" pads for me is because, when using the 4in pads and backing plate, it`s more for precision polishing and areas where the bigger pads cant reach. I`m not going to be buffing an entire hood with a 4" pad, but I will be buffing taillights or around mirrors or other tight areas, so around those places I am a lot more careful and moving at a slower pace.

I`m not saying you cant use the 5.5" pad on a 5.5" BP or a 6.5" pad on a 6.5" BP..... I just to prefer it myself for those reasons. it`s simply my style or my technique on how I use the FLEX.

I hope that cleared up any confusion and didn`t make it worse? lol, This is my first product review and I might have missed a couple things here and there. Thanks for the question.

In the pics with the 4 inch backing plate and 4 inch PFW it looks like their is still a small amount of velcro around the lip of the backing plate. On the 5.5 inch backing plate with the tangerine the backing plate is actually slightly larger than then the velcro. I am speculating but that is what I noticed when I read the review.

Eric, great review! I have had a chance to play with the system and the design and quality if extremely high. This is definately a big score for the Club Flex guys!

Todd:"In the pics with the 4 inch backing plate and 4 inch PFW it looks like their is still a small amount of velcro around the lip of the backing plate"

That is partially do to me not properly aligning the pad onto the backing plate.


"On the 5.5 inch backing plate with the tangerine the backing plate is actually slightly larger than then the velcro"

I didn`t take a picture with the 5.5" BP and a Tang pad? or am i getting confused on what you are asking?

[Todd@RUPES]

I didn`t take a picture with the 5.5" BP and a Tang pad? or am i getting confused on what you are asking?

I was referring to the below quote.

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)

[The Pad Man]

On the 5.5 inch pads, the loop is actually only about 5 inches, that why it hangs over. The purple foamed wool (4"), is actually 4.25"

[Rocket]

Thanks for the review. I`m really thinking about ordering the kit. If I do I may not be pulling my PC out nearly as much anymore to use with 4" pads

[Eric_Witt]

I was referring to the below quote.

oops, haha, i guess I did post that pic. *facepalm*

[Eric_Witt]

On the 5.5 inch pads, the loop is actually only about 5 inches, that why it hangs over. The purple foamed wool (4"), is actually 4.25"

Thanks for clearing that up Eric, Hope the review was satisfactory and that I didn`t leave anything out.

[BobbyG]

Eric,

Great review and this should actually be a tutorial for Flex 3401 owners!!

[SS 07C70]

Great write-up. I may have to seriously look into this as one of my next purchases.

[Bunky]

I have 2 different 5.5-in pads.

I have some from Danase (now out of business) that were like 1/4-in smaller and thinner (when competitors were claiming this was bad) than the most 5.5-in pads.

I would like to see some durability reports from heavy users to see how these really last.