Delaware Valley Tackle

There’s no danger to the reel and the only negative to large backing is a bulky knot. No problem unless you cut it real close with main line. Same with the digging.

I’ve never heard a thumb bar called an offset clutch before. A Japanese translation maybe? Anyway, if your model has the post it’s easy. If it has the through pin much more involved.

You really think two layers of cardboard are the answer to conveyors and forklifts?

On floating spools and reels with solid shaft the bearing under the spool cap is just for lateral support and does not affect casting.

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The spool mounted bearing serves the same purpose as any spool bearing: support, alignment and friction reduction. Bushing isn’t the dirty word it’s often made out to be. Good, close tolerance, polished bushings May provide all the above fictions adequately. The benefits of an upgrade to bearings depends on what you’re starting with and what you’re going to.

The high end Daiwa’s with floating spool and some upper end Shimano’s do. Those tools are priceless when you need it and don’t eat much in between.

Either will work I keep the tan on hand. Shimano bantam drag grease is good too.

They should be fine. I’d give them a spin by hand when first installed just to be sure they’re free. You’ll find out quickly if they’re dry by fishing in the rain. If you get binding, remove the felt washers, dry , grease and reinstall. Better yet replace with Carbontex.

If the main feature of a rod is being indestructible your problem is handling practices not rod quality.

Save your money to put towards a small boat to get you off the bank. That will do more for you than swapping out your equipment. What you have isn’t high end, but certainly not junk either. Keep your reels serviced lubricated they’ll do all you need. If anything equipment wise now, sell a casting rod and replace it with a M or MH mod for treble hook lures.

I worked on a few of those reels. They’re decent, but don’t like salt/brackish water.

Is the drag backed off all the way? They can hit a swept handle. If not I’d suspect the handle got bent slightly. Loosen the handle nut , lift the handle and tighten the drag. Reinstall the handle and see if that corrects the problem.

That impression may originate from the mojo being made in Mexico but the factories, materials and mandrels are all identical to Park Falls. Either way they may be worth a look since things are changing.

The OG Avid blanks (SCIII) are still available in the Mojo series.

Now that Lews has been acquired and signed KVD, the niche they once filled as a “less expensive Revo” is opening back up. Dobyns could slide in there but not sure this will cut it. I’ll have to see one.

I don’t think they envisioned constant changing side to side when they designed swapping handles. The cap might come as part of the handle assembly. You might have to look for a parts reel

A 4.5 will easily pass leader knots joining 50# braid and 15# mono. You won’t have any problem here.

This trend has been visible for a while now. I expect it will accelerate given the current state of the world

Ironically this was the real reason for split grips originally. The idea being the short butt grip had a better and more consistent grip for two handed casting. On modern production rods it’s all about saving material costs and maybe aesthetics in some cases. Of course they to market them As an innovation.

Glad I’m not the only one. Those unsanded blanks are a pain to wrap on. I find slightly lowering thread tension helps.

This is just a labor and materials saving move packaged as innovation. I’ve yet to find a grip material that’s a deal make or breaker.

I’d use acetone over alcohol.

Yes is pressed into the side plate. Sometimes you can push them out but for your purpose don’t bother. Remove the side plate and spray the AR full of Simple Green etc, and swab it clean. Rinse with hot water. Shake out excess and sit out to dry. Put light oil on a swab and lightly coat the bearing and sleeve. Reassemble and you should be good.

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.