Well it is time to do some maintenance on my reels and I was wondering what upgrades I can do to help them perform better? I have heard I can upgrade drag washers and replace stock bearings with ceramic bearings, but I am not sure if it is worth it? Or should I just give the reels a good cleaning, since they are still in good working order. Anyone have any thoughts or opinions on what I should do?

FIT

Red rocket fuel for lubing the reel and there is a bearing upgrade there called abec.Heres a little info on the bearings
http://www.wmi.org/sql_messages_html/onfly_file/doc.asp?num=32255&ini=d:\asp_ini\rods_reels_3way.ini&no_nav=
you`ll have to cut and paste the whole url to make it work sorry

Like Bill said, the Rocket Fuel is great! I only had a couple of reels done with the RF and now I'm using the Quantum Hot Sauce. I don't like it as much as the RF.

I also added ABEC7 bearings and that made all the difference!!! I haven't added the Smoothie's yet but that's next.

Here's a place to get it all.

http://www.heartlandtackleservice.com/

>Red rocket fuel for lubing the reel and there is a bearing
>upgrade there called abec.Heres a little info on the bearings
>http://www.wmi.org/sql_messages_html/onfly_file/doc.asp?num=32255&ini=d:\asp_ini\rods_reels_3way.ini&no_nav=
>you`ll have to cut and paste the whole url to make it work
>sorry

Hey Bill,
Would you be willing to give a little informational talk at our next meeting about the things you just discussed? I would & I'm sure everyone else would appreciate your knowledge on upgrading, repairing and maintaining your reels. :D Bring a reel, bearings and some Red Rocket - What do you say?

William-SCBBBC

>there is a bearing upgrade there called abec

ABEC (Annular Bearing Engineering Council) isn't a type of bearing--it's a numerical precision rating. Shimano stock bearings have an ABEC 3 rating. ABEC 5 and 7 bearings will give better performance (easier casts, smoother retrieves) but a precision rating higher than 7 won't yield noticeable gains in a fishing reel.

Shimano uses very high quality bearings to begin with and the stock bearings can be improved by cleaning them with lighter fluid (soaking then drying) and re-lubing with a drop of premium lubricant like Yellow Rocket Fuel, Reel-X or Speed-X.

Shimano did upgrade the bearings across most of their spinning, large conventional and higher-end baitcast reel lines this year. The new bearings are called AR-B (antirust bearings) and as the name implies, they offer greater corrosion resistance. These are supposed to be rated ABEC 5 and may spin a little faster since they don't have dust shields. I took out a pair from a Quickfire and put them into a Curado BSF and there is a noticeable improvement in casting distance/ease.

FIT--three really quick and easy things to improve your Curados' performance:
1. Clean and relube your stock bearings. Or upgrade them.
2. Take an oil soaked cotton swab and clean the brake residue from the raceway in the left sideplate. After cleaning off the residue leave a very light film of oil on the raceway.
3. Clean the spool shaft and leave a very light film of oil on it.

Since you're in SF you can get Shimano parts at Hi's (authorized Shimano repair/warranty center).

Thanks for the help Steve, just wondering if you know where I can get Rocket Fuel around our area?


FIT

I don't know of any local shops selling Rocket Fuel but I do know that Cabelas carries it...

Great post! Excellent explanation.

I used to be intimidated to take apart my casting reels - I figured I'd mess something up, lose something, etc. However, they're really not that complicated, & if I do botch something, the parts for Shimano reels are readily available & cheap.

If you're missing a schematic, Shimano has them available on their website: http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/us/en/fishing/products/reels.html
Those are a big help to me in taking apart & re-assembling my reels.