I ran across a video that showed someone replacing their bearings on the spool with Boca bearings. It was pretty quick and easy. What would I expect to see if I upgraded the bearings in my Pro Qualifer 2 baitcaster? Is it worth it or not for a cheaper workhorse reel? https://www.bocabearings.com/products/fr-093c-os-ld-17386?make=BASS PRO&model=QUALIFIER PQX10SHD&feature=BAITCASTER

Spool bearings are the last word in cast distance - Jun Sonada rates bearing swap up to 2-3 % cast distance improvement. He's pretty accurate here for what you would gain with a bearing swap to Boca orange-seal hybrid ceramic ABEC7, etc Spool mass and inertia is the first word - 10% cast distance improvement. (Spool swap is closer to 30% improvement for BFS casting light lures) https://japantackle.com/tackle_topics/spool_tuneup.htm Bearings that give greater cast distance improvement are unshielded micro-bearings, and I've measured as much as 15% difference between stock shielded bearings and quality Air bearings. You also need to add a drop of bearing oil about once/mo. In the link above, Jun rates the bearing oil as another 2-3 % distance improvement, so bearing + oil gets you to 6%. Five-percent is a good nominal improvement in practice - but is that worth $40 of bearings to you? To me, the Boca swap is a *meh* result - if you want to go places, push it to IXA, MC-Squared, Hedgehog, and Roro. Fishing 1/8 oz go-to for inshore, this makes a worthwhile difference for me.

Upgraded bearings?

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September 28, 2025Sep 28

Regarding ABEC…

I used to be a purchasing manager for Timken. I was at the aerospace division in NH. That said, I can’t tell you if I ever saw ABEC mentioned/referenced in the plant, reference materials, blueprints, travelers, etc…

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September 28, 2025Sep 28

7 hours ago, Smirak said:

Regarding ABEC…

I used to be a purchasing manager for Timken. I was at the aerospace division in NH. That said, I can’t tell you if I ever saw ABEC mentioned/referenced in the plant, reference materials, blueprints, travelers, etc…

The NMB bearings found in reels are rated P0, which is the equivalent to ABEC 1 standards in Japanese manufacturing. This is in their technical documentation. However, I've noticed GRW and NSK don't mention that info in their technical documentation, much like your experience with Timken.

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