Shimano Vanford drag upgrade, 1000 size

[TheWitness33]

Does anybody know if the vanford shares a drag washer stack with another reel? I'd like to put a carbontex drag in and have an email in with them... just curious if anybody else has done it yet?

[redmeansdistortion]

Get a caliper and measure the washers, then email Smooth Drag and tell Dawn which sizes you need.  They will make any size you want.  They have made me washers for many reels that aren't mentioned in their pricing sheet.  On a smaller reel like that, you may want to use Cal's purple low viscosity grease.

[garroyo130]

What's in there currently? 

 

I've always heard that felt is smoother than carbon at lower drag settings. 

[TheWitness33]

2 hours ago, garroyo130 said:

What's in there currently? 

 

I've always heard that felt is smoother than carbon at lower drag settings. 

Felt. I emailed them and they said there's one washer in there. Grand total of $3.25. I'm going to splurge. I have their washers in every reel I own. LOVE THEM.

 

One question is, do I grease with the tan grease I have or run dry? I think I've always greased. I'm running 15lb braid.

[MN Fisher]

3 minutes ago, TheWitness33 said:

One question is, do I grease with the tan grease I have or run dry? I think I've always greased. I'm running 15lb braid.

Greased - there's a lower startup force...so it'll protect lighter lines.

Un-greased - you'll get a higher top-end...so it'll give you more drag against really big fish.

 

I went the 'cheap' route, got some small squares of Carbontex and made my own for my reels.

 

I grease all mine with Cals - it's the only way to grease drag-washers.

[TheWitness33]

It was actually $2.95... I just ordered it.

[Kdizzle]

Dear god it would make me feel ungodly angry as a consumer if I purchased a 250 dollar reel and had to "upgrade" it. 

[garroyo130]

11 minutes ago, Kdizzle said:

Dear god it would make me feel ungodly angry as a consumer if I purchased a 250 dollar reel and had to "upgrade" it. 

 

Like i said above, for a reel with 7lbs of drag, I'm not sure its an upgrade. 

The engineers designed it that way for a reason and I doubt cost cutting was the primary reason.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

No reason to grease a carbon drag on a bass reel. The main advantage of grease is heat dissipation which isn’t an issue with fish that don’t make extended hard runs. The felt will wear out eventually and can be the cause of binding if they get wet. That’s why felt needs to be greased. 

[JustJames]

I don’t see the need to upgrade drag on my Vanford 2000s. I can pull up 4lb bass easily with stock drag or even 5-6lb catfish. I set drag on my spinning pretty loose compare to baitcaster, all I need is just a touch from my index finger to slow the drag down when needed.

If I’m gonna upgrade the drag I would use smooth drag only. I see available stradic 1000/2000 3 pieces which should fit newer shimano 1000/2000 across the board. Call them directly for info.

http://www.smoothdrag.com/price.html

[TheWitness33]

They told me vanford 1000 has one drag washer. I haven't taken it apart yet. I guess we'll see! 

[The Bassman]

10 hours ago, garroyo130 said:

 

Like i said above, for a reel with 7lbs of drag, I'm not sure its an upgrade. 

The engineers designed it that way for a reason and I doubt cost cutting was the primary reason.

Shimano's rep Dan Thorburn, aka Bantam 1 concurs. He's a Shimano engineer and knows what he's talking about. I've used Shimano spinners for years and have had no issues with stock drag washers. It's not a big issue with bass fishing anyway. Just the occasional catfish or other rough fish that comes along.

[bulldog1935]

10 hours ago, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

I don’t see the need to upgrade drag on my Vanford 2000s. I can pull up 4lb bass easily with stock drag or even 5-6lb catfish. I set drag on my spinning pretty loose compare to baitcaster, all I need is just a touch from my index finger to slow the drag down when needed.

If I’m gonna upgrade the drag I would use smooth drag only. I see available stradic 1000/2000 3 pieces which should fit newer shimano 1000/2000 across the board. Call them directly for info.

http://www.smoothdrag.com/price.html

I'm going to reiterate this point even stronger.  

I have three '19 and '20 Shimano 1000/2000 size spinners, and would never swap the felt drag washers for carbontex.  

The little reels won't crank against more than 3 lbs, and there's no reason to give up smooth wide ranging drag for a big meaningless number.  

 

I did upgrade one felt drag (not Shimano) to carbontex - that was with spooled 10-lb braid, and wasn't able to get 2-lbs measured drag - the carbontex gave me 2-1/2-lbs I was shooting for..  

[J Francho]

A dry carbon fiber drag set up doesn't stick, even in freezing cold.  All the reels that are not part of our "road tests" get the upgrade.  Smooth Drags can make you any size if they don't have it in stock.

[TheWitness33]

4 hours ago, J Francho said:

A dry carbon fiber drag set up doesn't stick, even in freezing cold.  All the reels that are not part of our "road tests" get the upgrade.  Smooth Drags can make you any size if they don't have it in stock.

Does dry damage the drag washer in any way? 

[J Francho]

29 minutes ago, TheWitness33 said:

Does dry damage the drag washer in any way?

No.  They were originally meant to be run dry, if they're from Smooth Drags.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

28 minutes ago, TheWitness33 said:

Does dry damage the drag washer in any way? 

Not a carbon drag. A felt washer is a “wet” drag and needs grease. 

[TheWitness33]

Does leaving the drag compressed (tight) damage it? I'm speaking of carbontex

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, TheWitness33 said:

Does leaving the drag compressed (tight) damage it? I'm speaking of carbontex

No - but I don't have mine tight in any case. Standard is to have it 1/3 of the line test, or 1/3 of the max rod rating - which ever is lower.

[TheWitness33]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

No - but I don't have mine tight in any case. Standard is to have it 1/3 of the line test, or 1/3 of the max rod rating - which ever is lower.

That I do. But I was taught after a trip to release the drag if you aren't using the reel anymore that day. 

[MN Fisher]

Just now, TheWitness33 said:

That I do. But I was taught after a trip to release the drag if you aren't using the reel anymore that day. 

Ya - that's for oiled-felt...it can compress and stay that way. Carbontex is much more forgiving in that respect.

[TheWitness33]

The stock drag IS sufficient and locked down probably able to snap my rod but I'm still going to put the carbontex in since I bought it.

[garroyo130]

7 minutes ago, TheWitness33 said:

The stock drag IS sufficient and locked down probably able to snap my rod but I'm still going to put the carbontex in since I bought it.

 

That's the way to do it. A good amount of the stuff we here on the forum obsess about probably matters little to the fish but it makes us feel good.

[Bigassbass]

I will not buy a Vanford going to keep my original Ci4 1000 disappointing to buy a new reel and it has one felt washer in the drag stack.  Honestly I don't think the ci4 line or the Vanford reels are that fantastic, what they got going for them is they are very light.

[Eric 26]

58 minutes ago, Bigassbass said:

I will not buy a Vanford going to keep my original Ci4 1000 disappointing to buy a new reel and it has one felt washer in the drag stack.  Honestly I don't think the ci4 line or the Vanford reels are that fantastic, what they got going for them is they are very light.

I know this will ruffle some feathers but the Piscifun Carbon X is light and a fraction of the price. Also has triple disc carbon washers. Just saying ?