Long term Lews durability

[DN3]

Looking for info on long term Lews durability... The baitcaster more specifically..... Lews users, how many seasons have you had your reels? Any issues? Etc?

[Bluebasser86]

I have a Speed Spool that I bought when they first came out (5 years ago maybe?), and it's still going strong. I haven't treated it well. It's dirty, never been serviced, maybe I'm hoping it will die so I don't want to buy another one, but it keeps on going. It has a little squeak during the retrieve, and rattles during cast if I don't get the thumb bar depressed all the way, but if I'd taken better care of it I doubt I'd have either of those things going on. 

[Jar11591]

This is my third year with a Tournament Pro Speed Spool. Heavily used every season and no issues, but I've also had DVT service it the last 2 winters. 

[Goose52]

If you are talking about the "new" Lew's products...then they didn't start shipping product until October 2010. So, the oldest reels out there are just over 5 years old (like Bluebasser86's reel). True long-term durability may not have been proven yet. You will get reports from people about how many "seasons" they have used the reel...but unless they can quantify their use of the reel during those "seasons" (now many days on the water, how many hours, how many casts, whatever), you are not getting a very accurate report of the actual use of the reel. For instance, I can report that I have a Mitchell 408 spinning reel that is approaching it's 50th "season"...with no parts breakage and only minor cosmetic wear (pretty impressive huh - but it doesn't mean much unless I stated how often it had been used over those 50 years).

Considering the first (new) Lew's reels were from the Doyo factory, and shared many common features and parts with certain BPS reels (in particular the Pro-Qualifier), you might want to read my long-term test of a PQ that revealed that two likely areas of wear on a Lew's having dual-braking with brass brake drums will be the brake drum and brake shoes, as well as wear to the frame under the clutch bar.  Details are here: 

Lew's owners having reels similar in design to a PQ might want to examine their reels for this type of wear:

Brake drum grooving:

Brake shoe wear (worn on the left, new on the right):

Frame wear (the grooving under the clutch bar at the red arrows):

Keep in mind that the photos above were from a PQ that had been on the water approximately 1000 days (or more). If you only fish once a week then it might take you 15 or 20 years of service to see similar wear...

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

While the "new" lews haven't been around all that long the platform has been used for years by ABU, Pflueger, BPS etc. They're reliable enough especially the mid and up models.  Investing in an annual cleaning and inspection will safeguard and extend the life by well more than the cost. 

[Robert Riley]

I have had a few I've bought over the last 3 years, they all work wonderfully. Except for one, which was entirely my fault in not putting it back together correctly, 

[aprilbass101]

I have several Lews baitcasters & I've had zero issues with any of them! Can I tell you how many hours or days I've used them? "NO" but I can tell you I use them a lot! I would recommend them to any 1 If one of my LFS took a crap ( which they haven't) I would just go and purchase another one for $100 or just wait till the end of the year and purchase a better one like a Tournament Pro for $119! I have Cabelas, Bass Pro Shop, Gander Mountain, Janns Netcraft at my disposal all with in 20 min drive! Lucky Me or Not $$$

[tbone1993]

My TP is beat to hell but it keeps on ticking. That reel is in my had pretty much all of the time. Its my go to flipping reel and always with me bank fishing. I've got so much faith in that reel that if the bite was predominately jerk baits I would pull off my flipping line and toss it on my jerkbait rod. I can't say the same thing about my stx. After 1 season of heavy use the clutch bar was toast and the tension knob is done. Sending it in for repair shortly. 

[Kevin22]

3 years on mine. Even have a couple of the lowest end $50 model. Never a problem. I use one of those $50 ones for white bass, so it sees probably a thousand fish a year, including some 20#+ sheepshead and carp.