Looking To Buy A Rupes

[gsoukaris]

Wondering if there are any dealers in the club?

Wanna step up this year & get a Rupes Bigfoot. Either the LHR15 Mark III or LHR21 Mark III.

I've detailed alot of cars last year , with my Porter Cable & have 4 lined up, as soon as Spring comes.

Porter Cable is a great tool, but I'm very interested in using the Rupes!

If I can achieve better results, in less time, then it's worth it to me.

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[ZR]

Looks like heck of a machine, hopefully Scrape will chime in.

[hammerhead]

i'd be curious about the cordless...?

[Scrape]

Any reason why you want to go with the Rupes? The BIGFOOT tools are ok for polishing. Nice long throws (15 mm for the LHR15 and 21 mm for the LHR21) but you have to know that these machines are still random orbital machines similarly to the Porter Cable. If you swap back and forth your backing plates from a 5" to a 6" then you are in for a surprise. Rupes only offers a 6" backing plate for the two units that you listed. If you want a 5" for this you are out of luck unless you want to use your PC (Porter Cable) for that purpose only or buy the duetto or Bigfoot Mini. The two polisher that you listed is basically the same as your PC meaning that it can still stall out. If you are working on some tough jobs such as polishing a boat (which is not fun btw) or snowmobiles etc where they are gel coated then these machines are not for you. I highly recommend a rotary machine for this type of work or a gear driven tool which is cross between a rotary and a random orbital but with no stall feature. Rupes makes a gear driven unit as well.

When I was considering polishers at the time I too was running the Porter Cable and wanted to step up to a quality polisher that was reliable and durable especially if this is the only tool you will use for your jobs. If you want to get the most of your polisher the first question that you need to ask yourself is how much polishing do you intend to do? You did 4 cars last year so this year you may do 6 to 8? if so will there be any boats or trailers involved? Cars and pickups? Did you struggle with any of your jobs last year such as cars with hard paint with heavy swirl marks that were hard to remove and you spent a ton of extra time on it? These are all factors that I took into consideration before stepping up from my Porter Cable. What I didn't like with Rupes right away was how light and plasticky it felt. The electronic speed controller was a nuisance as I loved the mechanical dial so I can dial in my speed. Being able to swap backing plates and use the same tool to achieve the same results was a big plus for me. And speaking of backing plates, Rupes backing plates are designed to go with their own pad. A 6" backing plate and a 6" foam pad sounds like it work right? Well yes and no. The reason I say no is that when you are polishing normally your pad may run up against a surface on the vehicle such as a bumper against a trunk lid. If you have a 6" dia pad and backing plate that is a recipe for disaster. Go and measure your backing plate on your Porter Cable. A 6" one will measure around 5.5" give or take and a 5" backing plate measures around 4.75". The choice is up to you at the end of the day. In my own personal case at the time of purchase Rupes didn't have a gear driven tool out at the time and the only one that is available was the Flex 3401 aka "The Beast". It fit all my needs perfectly as it ticked all the above boxes. (In case you were wondering what I ended up with) ;)

[Scrape]

i'd be curious about the cordless...?
What about cordless?

[hammerhead]

was wondering how long the charge would last...?

[Scrape]

According to the Rupes website it will last roughly 30 minutes with a 20 minute church time. You could also plug it in as well. Hopefully I plan to add in iBrid nano to my lineup this year.
was wondering how long the charge would last...?

[Scrape]

gsoukaris I would consider one of these. https://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/how-to-articles-by-mike-phillips/124929-supa-beast-cbeast-backing-plate-swap-mike-phillips.html

[gsoukaris]

Thanks for the input Scrape.

1 would like to buy the gear driven polisher, I think it's the Mele 900, but it is substantially more money.

Is it truly worth it?

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[Zippy]

*grabs a pen and paper and takes notes*
:thumbsup:

[Scrape]

Gear drive yes, but not a Rupes for me personally. I believe you are referring to the Millie LK900E. It rotates Clockwise vs Counterclockwise for the Flex. I know that the ergonomics on the Flex are better and the motor of the Millie is quieter. The Millie works ideally with their pads exclusively for ideal results. Price out the Rupes pads and compare them to the class leading Buff and Shine pads and start adding it up. For me I need a wide range of pads as I may work on a boat, truck, trailer etc. The Flex XC 3401 is my weapon of choice and the price is a lot better you would imagine. Most pros use the Flex for a reason. 1. Brushless motor. 2. Reliable 3. Durable. The Porsche and BMW factories exclusively use Flex Polishers when doing minor correction.
Prices are very similar for both units as well but pad prices is where the difference is.

Like I said before, your money your choice. It's like anything in this world.


Thanks for the input Scrape.

1 would like to buy the gear driven polisher, I think it's the Mele 900, but it is substantially more money.

Is it truly worth it?

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[gsoukaris]

Gear drive yes, but not a Rupes for me personally. I believe you are referring to the Millie LK900E. It rotates Clockwise vs Counterclockwise for the Flex. I know that the ergonomics on the Flex are better and the motor of the Millie is quieter. The Millie works ideally with their pads exclusively for ideal results. For me I need a wide range of pads as I may work on a boat, truck, trailer etc. The Flex XC 3401 is my weapon of choice and the price is a lot better you would imagine. Most pros use the Flex for a reason. 1. Brushless motor. 2. Reliable 3. Durable. The Porsche and BMW factories exclusively use Flex Polishers when doing minor correction.
Prices are very similar for both units as well but pad prices is where the difference is.

Like I said before, your money your choice. It's like anything in this world.Thx man, I will check out the Flex!

I'm not a pro by any means. Just an enthusiast that's trying to have better results, for time I spend on a detail job. More & more people have approached me to do their vehicles. I just wanna provide solid results for a fair price.

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