reel bearings

[rboat]

Has anyone replaced baitcaster spool bearings with boca bearings to improve performance, and did you find it difficult to swap and was it worth the cost? I was just thinking of upgrading some old reels instead of replacing them. Thanks.

[bulldog1935]

The baitcaster spool bearings that improve performance are unshielded bearings. 

You oil them about every month of fishing (one drop). 

My favorite are MTCW and, especially, KTF from Japan. 

Part of it for me, also, these bearings are salt-proof. 

Our Ukraine friend, SDS Custom, has a hiatus right now. 

RoroLure.com is a good vendor from Hong Kong - also a great pin-remover tool. 

Make sure you match the bearing rating with the weight you're planning to cast. 

[PressuredFishing]

10 minutes ago, rboat said:

Has anyone replaced baitcaster spool bearings with boca bearings to improve performance, and did you find it difficult to swap and was it worth the cost? I was just thinking of upgrading some old reels instead of replacing them. Thanks.

An easy trick to increase casting distance tremendously is to flush the bearings of grease out of the factory and replace with a low viscosity high performance oil . However the grease in the bearings does increase longevity and lifespan over oil, especially if you are not cleaning your reels reasonably often. 

[garroyo130]

IMO the only bearings where an upgrade might give you added performance is the spool bearings and even then its iffy. Not a fan of Boca. Whenever I have to replace, I go ABEC5 from TRB RC. Reasonably priced and their customer service is top notch.

 

https://trbrc.com/search-results-page?q=Fishing

[ike8120]

I been using Hybrid Ceramics ABEC7 from the JZN store on Aliexpress, decent price was fast shipping until their lastest lockdown. I only change the spool bearings and spool tension bearing if it has one. Changing them is very easy, I bought the spool shaft pin remover, for me it is easier then the channel locks. I got the tool from Bait Finesse Empire, it is SS not aluminum like others. I use a pin to remove the retainers, Make sure you keep your hand over them when pop the off or the will fly into the dark hole.

[newapti5]

Hybrid ceramic bearing like BOCA is mostly for improving how easy the casting is - you don't need to whip it hard anymore. For casting distance, my experience is that they may have some noticeable improvements on lighter finesse lures, but not so much on heavy lures.  

 

The other good thing about them is you don't need to add oil anymore, just a acetone bath once a season. The down side is the noise and a bit "roughness."  Also, like others said, a flushed good quality stainless steel bearing could have similar results. 

[Jig Man]

I had a guy in Alabama super tune some Curados and but Bocas in.  It was an improvement.  

[suzuki2903]

Skip the boca bearings and go with spool speed xcr ultra or hedgehog air spool bearings if you want a noticeable difference .  The cheaper ceramic bearings work but there’s a difference in them compared to higher end bearings!   And no you won’t gain a ton of distance from any new bearing but they’re smoother and the reel casts a lot smoother/easier 

[SmugOne]

I got a really good deal on a set of ABEC7s from Boca Bearings about 4 years ago.  Threw them on a Curado I and there was a noticeable improvement on casting distance. Overall I am happy with it but I haven’t felt the need to do it with any of my newer or more expensive reels.

[cyclops2]

I love the spin casting ease. But not the constant line twisting. 

 

I love the NO twisting of line by bait reels.  But not the overruns & re adjusting as lure weights & air resistance change the drag settings.

 

What else can a 1 eyed monster complain about ?      

[FishTank]

I have had good luck with Boca bearings.  I have replaced them in about 6 reels. I noticed a lot of improvement over the stock bearings with ABEC 7's non orange seel and some improvement with the ABEC 5's but this was in older reel models.  I tried a pair in my Shimano Bantam and didn't see much difference.  With that said the bearings I did replace weren't fantastic out of the box, some took hours of fishing before it became big difference over the stock.  Some have seen an extreme amount of use over the years and still cast a mile. 

[Bankc]

I once replaced bushings with ceramic bearings in a reel.  I expected to see a huge difference, since I went from no bearings to bearings.  Truth be told, the added noise was the biggest difference.  So long as the bushings were clean and well lubricated, which I was pretty good at keeping up with, there wasn't a noticeable improvement in distance.  

What I found was the spool would free spin longer and faster with the bearings.  But it would still backlash at the same point.  So I needed to keep the brakes and spool tension applied to keep the spool under control.  So in the end, I had to create the same amount of friction to make the reel usable.  Whether that came from the bushings, bearings, or spool tension knob, didn't matter.  

 

If your old bearings are shot, you'll notice and improvement.  Otherwise, my bet is any improvement you experience is likely more related to the placebo effect than anything else.  

[Lead Head]

I'm probably totally wrong, and someone will surely come along tell me how wrong I am, but I look at it this way...

If you are using 0 brakes and 0 spool tension, you will probably notice improvement with upgraded bearings. 

If you are using brakes and/or spool tension, your bearings are probably already doing as good a job as they need to do.

 

If you are upgrading because of salt, replacing old/worn bearings, or just want to try something different, thats fine. I just wouldn't expect a significant difference in performance if I'm already using brakes or spool tension to slow down stock bearings. 

[bulldog1935]

Maybe I should have showed this one, instead, but the bearing swap in my MM 1/4 to 3/8+ oz niche was beyond noteworthy. 

 

[GRiver]

Here is mu 2 cents…… probably not worth 1 cent. 
 

I replaced my stock bearings in one of my reels, because of a bearing failure on one of the spool bearings. It started making noise and feeling rough. After the first one I ended up changing them all.
I went with abec7 stainless bearings, I use grease on my bearings…. I know …I know putting grease in abec 7 in redundant and going backwards, but man are they quiet. I got little more distance that I wanted, but I got rid of the noise.

I am looking for quiet and smoothness, I want silence on retrieval. 
The down side to grease is it gets old and stiff and has to be cleaned then re-greased. 
 

[FrnkNsteen]

3 hours ago, GRiver said:

Here is mu 2 cents…… probably not worth 1 cent. 
 

I replaced my stock bearings in one of my reels, because of a bearing failure on one of the spool bearings. It started making noise and feeling rough. After the first one I ended up changing them all.
I went with abec7 stainless bearings, I use grease on my bearings…. I know …I know putting grease in abec 7 in redundant and going backwards, but man are they quiet. I got little more distance that I wanted, but I got rid of the noise.

I am looking for quiet and smoothness, I want silence on retrieval. 
The down side to grease is it gets old and stiff and has to be cleaned then re-greased. 
 

What kind of grease did you use, and in which bearings? Frame bearings, or the spool too?

 

Don't hear too many people greasing spool bearings. I've heard of people thinning down Cal's drag grease to lube bearings. Just curious what you used.

 

I tried Yamaha marine grease in frame bearings, but didn't care for it. Too thick and hard to clean back iut. Seemed to have a lit of paraphin wax in it that was hard to remove.

[GRiver]

Roll over image to zoom in

Super Lube-21030 Synthetic Multi-Purpose Grease, 3 Oz.

7 minutes ago, FrnkNsteen said:

What kind of grease did you use

I know there is probably better out there  but this works for me. The “super lube”, I use just enough to lube it, not drag it down. It cleans up easy to with acetone when I clean the bearings.

The liquid bearing is what I use to oil anything that requires oil, pretty inexpensive and comes with the needle point oil tip. 
as far as bearings go , from what I understand is that many reels are un-rated bearings anyway. So an abec 5 bearing would be an improvement. You can get an abec 9 if you want I picked middle of the road., and went with abec7 . With me putting grease in them was probably an over kill but they are smooth & quiet. Some people on here use ceramic bears and run the dry… easy casting but too noisy for me ….BBBRrrrrrrr, every cast.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Flushing and proper lube of stock bearings should be the first step. If you decide the stockers are bad or you just want to upgrade, ABEC5 SS dry lube is the a good bang for the buck. Ceramics and higher rated bearings are largely an enthusiast add on and not much of a performance boost. Anything that improves free spool might result in a modest increase in casting distance, but the real advantage imo is improved accuracy resulting from more effortless casts. 

[FrnkNsteen]

On 5/9/2022 at 6:30 PM, GRiver said:

Roll over image to zoom in

Super Lube-21030 Synthetic Multi-Purpose Grease, 3 Oz.

I know there is probably better out there  but this works for me. The “super lube”, I use just enough to lube it, not drag it down. It cleans up easy to with acetone when I clean the bearings.

The liquid bearing is what I use to oil anything that requires oil, pretty inexpensive and comes with the needle point oil tip. 
as far as bearings go , from what I understand is that many reels are un-rated bearings anyway. So an abec 5 bearing would be an improvement. You can get an abec 9 if you want I picked middle of the road., and went with abec7 . With me putting grease in them was probably an over kill but they are smooth & quiet. Some people on here use ceramic bears and run the dry… easy casting but too noisy for me ….BBBRrrrrrrr, every cast.

I have Superlube. I tried it in the mainshaft handle crank bearings of a Tat Type R that was makng some noise. Turned out the AR bearing was bad and had imprinted on the collar after having fallen on that reel. I cleaned it all out after replacing the AR. I'll have to try it again.

 

Thanks!

 

Thanks!

[WRB]

ABEC rating is a tolerance deviation number in microns.

No fishing reel can achieve high enough rpm’s to take advantage of bearing higher then ABEC 5, in fact ABEC 3 is far better then reels spool shaft rpms. Anything higher is a waste of money and simply ego. It’s like owning a car that can achieve 200 mph and you never go faster then 100 mph max ever. 

Clean bearings and properly lubricated are far more important then install 100,000 rpm rated bearings imo.

Have your older reels cleaned and tuned professionally for optimal casting performance.

Tom