I'm wondering if anyone has done an upgrade to a lesser cost reel to the bushing bearing on the mag brake side to a ball bearing. I'm thinking we could upgrade a lesser quality reel by changing the bushing bearing to a ball bearing and save some $$$. I have a new Quantum Bill Dance bait caster with the bushing bearing I'd like to upgrade to the ball bearing. The cost I think is around $10 to upgrade it.

If your on a tight budget you can maybe do this simple upgrade rather than replace the reel if it's still good while you save for a better reel.

There's more than bearings that make a "lesser" reel lesser. Tolerances etc. may not allow much better casting than just cleaning and lubing the reel correctly. It won't hurt anything, just keep expectations realistic. 

I noticed when playing with both brand new reels one spool spun longer in the cast mode with the brakes off and the friction knob backed off. The reel with the longer spinning spool had two ball bearings on its spool while the shorter spinning spool had only one ball bearing on the driven side. As where on the magnetic brake side had a solid bushing bearing. I was wondering if anyone ever changed the bushing bearing to a ball bearing? For $10 replacing the bushing bearing to a ball bearing we should be able to feel the difference. I'm not looking for it to become a $100 to $200 reel for $10. I'm just thinking it could cast smoother. Bill