Questions on Daiwa Fuego CT: Worth upgrading bearings?

[Nattyboh74 5]

Question for the guys that have this reel and upgraded the bearings on it... Is it worth the upgrade? Is it worth the extra money for the bearings and so on... Curious. They;re very cheap now and seems like a no brainier. If they last say 4 or 5 years, thats money well spent.

[LionHeart 394]

That's a tough one to answer, and may be truly your preference.  Personally I feel if it ain't broke, it don't need fix'n.  

 

I never got into the whole 'upgraded bearings' thing.  If the reel is smooth (and the Fuego is to my hands), no need to change them.

 

I've heard that some people change bearings in Hope's of increased casting distance, which makes absolutely no sense at all unless you have brakes and spool tension wide open and don't apply any thumb pressure whatsoever and the only thing slowing the spools rotation is bearing friction(fairly rare I'm willing to bet).

 

If you're doing it for durability, who knows.  Any well taken care of baitcaster that isn't a cheap piece of junk should last a very long time to begin with.

 

If you want to upgrade anything, maybe the drag washers?  Again, totally up to you though.

[johnD. 24]

The reel cast just fine out of the box.

I wouldn't upgrade until one goes bad. "If it ain't broke don't fix it" analogy.

Rem oil will speed up any spool bearing , if that's what you're looking for. 

[Happybeerbuzz 77]

It’s a sixty dollar reel. In my mind, I would just save the money and buy a better reel to begin with.  Then again, I am one of those people who don’t get taking a $10K automobile and tricking it out by putting $100k under the hood. Like cars though, fishing has an eccentric aspect to it so ultimately I say do it if it makes you happy. 

[Nattyboh74 5]

4 hours ago, LionHeart said:

That's a tough one to answer, and may be truly your preference.  Personally I feel if it ain't broke, it don't need fix'n.  

 

I never got into the whole 'upgraded bearings' thing.  If the reel is smooth (and the Fuego is to my hands), no need to change them.

 

I've heard that some people change bearings in Hope's of increased casting distance, which makes absolutely no sense at all unless you have brakes and spool tension wide open and don't apply any thumb pressure whatsoever and the only thing slowing the spools rotation is bearing friction(fairly rare I'm willing to bet).

 

If you're doing it for durability, who knows.  Any well taken care of baitcaster that isn't a cheap piece of junk should last a very long time to begin with.

 

If you want to upgrade anything, maybe the drag washers?  Again, totally up to you though.

Thanks.

3 hours ago, johnD. said:

The reel cast just fine out of the box.

I wouldn't upgrade until one goes bad. "If it ain't broke don't fix it" analogy.

Rem oil will speed up any spool bearing , if that's what you're looking for. 

I plan on using some TSI-321 oil.

2 hours ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

It’s a sixty dollar reel. In my mind, I would just save the money and buy a better reel to begin with.  Then again, I am one of those people who don’t get taking a $10K automobile and tricking it out by putting $100k under the hood. Like cars though, fishing has an eccentric aspect to it so ultimately I say do it if it makes you happy. 

Understood, but I plan on using it around salt. So I dont think it matters how much the reel is versus how long it will last. I know I can do some things to help it last but in the end I think the salt will win. The Fuego seems like it will hold up in terms of reeling the fish through the water. Its not like Im pulling a bass through weeds etc.

[Delaware Valley Tackle 3,860]

Swapping bearings won't do anything for longevity in general. Ceramics hold up better in salt water use but maintenance is still key. If it were mine I'd pass. 

[Nattyboh74 5]

1 minute ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Swapping bearings won't do anything for longevity in general. Ceramics hold up better in salt water use but maintenance is still key. If it were mine I'd pass. 

What would you recommend? The water here isnt too salty...

[Delaware Valley Tackle 3,860]

Deep cleaning and lubrication with a marine grease including a film on the inside of the cases. Rinse with clean water immediately after use and lay out to dry before storing. 

[Nattyboh74 5]

1 minute ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Deep cleaning and lubrication with a marine grease including a film on the inside of the cases. Rinse with clean water immediately after use and lay out to dry before storing. 

Ah I thought you meant do not use the Fuego. Thats what I planned on doing anyway..

[Delaware Valley Tackle 3,860]

1 minute ago, Nattyboh74 said:

Ah I thought you meant do not use the Fuego. Thats what I planned on doing anyway..

I meant pass on the bearings, at least for now

[Nattyboh74 5]

8 minutes ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

I meant pass on the bearings, at least for now

Thanks, appreciate your feedback.

[LionHeart 394]

4 hours ago, Happybeerbuzz said:

It’s a sixty dollar reel. In my mind, I would just save the money and buy a better reel to begin with.  Then again, I am one of those people who don’t get taking a $10K automobile and tricking it out by putting $100k under the hood. Like cars though, fishing has an eccentric aspect to it so ultimately I say do it if it makes you happy. 

I share the same mentality, and rarely would a sub $100 reel get my attention, but the Fuego is a lot of reel for the money.

 

I've only put a few trips on it so far, so we'll see how durability goes.  Out of the box though, it is a major win in my opinion.

[johnD. 24]

16 hours ago, Nattyboh74 said:

What would you recommend? The water here isnt too salty...

I use mine in the salt all of the time , no problems. The only oil I use in the bearings for my saltwater reels is Corrosion X reelx oil. If you take the cast control knob off on that reel you can actually get oil on that gear side spool shaft bearing.

[Nattyboh74 5]

5 minutes ago, johnD. said:

I use mine in the salt all of the time , no problems. The only oil I use in the bearings for my saltwater reels is Corrosion X reelx oil. If you take the cast control knob off on that reel you can actually get oil on that gear side spool shaft bearing.

Sweet thanks!