a word about bearings

everyone puts grease in their bearings.   even boca bearings will do that unless you specifically ask for them to be dry.  if you have a straight trolling reel and live bait casting is not an issue, go ahead and pack it with grease.  if you want to get the maximum amount of spin out of the spool, you need to pick out the retaining rings, remove the shields on both sides, clean out the bearings with brake cleaner spray and compressed air, and re-lube with corrosion x, reel x or speed x.  and you may have to repeat this process every few years.  i have always used corrosion x.  at least one of the techs at shimano uses speed x on his personal reels, but says either one is fine.  

if you find that your bearings have a retaining ring that is crimped in, you can forget about removing the shield.  just soak it in brake fluid for a couple of days and that will eat away all the excess grease.  blow out the excess brake fluid with compressed air, then soak it in brake cleaning fluid spray for another day, then blow that out, and then finally lube it with corrosion x.  yeah, it's a real pain if you can't open it up.  

what about the bearings with plastic, rubber or phenolic shields?  jeez, if you can lube them from the outside with corrosion x and get them to spin, go for it.  personally, i don't trust a bearing unless i can see its balls.  and what about ceramic bearings?  i've tried them and they seem to work just fine.  i don't use them anymore because i simply prefer stainless steel.  

as far as bearing quality goes, the abec-3's that are used in the penn's and shimano's are actually ok.  when you spin the spool and carefully hold the reel, you will feel a little vibration from the cheaper quality bearings.  that should be decreased with better quality bearings.  but honestly, the basic function and freespool of the reel will probably be unchanged.  couple that with the fact that i can't cast worth beans, and i guess it really doesn't matter.  so stock stainless steel bearings are really just fine.  

so unless there is a specific request, or unless the stock bearings have corroded out. i will typically clean out the stock bearings, lube them up, re-install them and see enough improvement in freespool to make it worth the effort.  it's more work for me, but it saves the owner a little money.  if you have a "coffee grinder" sensation when you turn the handle of your shimano tld, 9 times of out 10 it is the main bearing in the right side plate.  pull the side plate and check the bearing.  if it feels "rough" at all, it's toast.  if you call shimano at 877-577-0600, 9 times out of 10 they will send you a replacment bearing for free.   alan

do not let dot 5 fluid touch anything rubber, it will dissolve it. dot 3-4 is safer with most rubber/plastic.