First let me say that I service reels also, I assure you I have the correct tools to do the job, and a bent spool shaft is not what was causing the loss of distance in casting. Two of the reels I had experienced the same issue as mentioned the clicking feature of the drag star broke. while that in itself is not that big of a deal, the real problem was that without the extra tension that the click provided the drag star was very easy to move and even a slight bump would loosen the drag. Lews does not have the parts needed to repair the click listed in their schematics and a call was made to get the necessary parts, good customer service by the way. Sometime when you are cleaning your reel disassemble that area of the reel and you will see why that part is prone to breaking, very poor design.
I use only the highest quality lubricants and greases to service my customers and my reels, TSI 301, Tungsten disulfide, Cal's and Rocket Fuel and many others that I use on occasion depending on how and where the reel will be used. I completely disassemble the reels and wash them with safety clean, and rinse them in water, other parts are further cleaned and flushed in one of my ultrasonic cleaners, so I don't believe maintenance or lack of it was the cause either.
What I did notice was after about a year the reels started becoming rough during the retrieve, when I serviced the reels, it was easy to see why, there was wear on the main gear that was visible to the naked eye, the pinion did not show the same even when examined with a jewelers loop, it looked to be normal. The loss of casting distance was in my opinion attributed to the spool shaft ends very rough. When examined closely they looked as if a beaver had gnawed them off to the correct length, after continued use they damaged the tension disks and there was a loss of casting distance. I polished the shafts and replaced the tension disks and the reels did cast better but never as well as they did when new.
This is not a post to bash Lews reels, I like them, I think they are among the best in their respective price group, but to make them out to be something with exacting tolerances, better bearings and components then their competitors is not what I experienced.
The Lews, Abu Garcia and BPS reels and made in Korea by a company named Doyo Engineering, you use to be able to go to their website and check them out.