Ive always replaced the spool bearings (in the side plate and the one under cast control knob) Bocas are awesome, i usually go with the orange seal ceramics. Leave the seal off and clean every so often, little to no lube needed at all.

 

To each his own, but I doubt they are any better than OEM.
Bearings need to be clean and have the proper amount of proper lube.
I am not saying Boca are not good bearings, I just don't think they are better than OEM. If you replaced some Boca's with OEM after 3 years of wading salt, I think you would see the same improvement.

 

Coming from experience, Bocas (granted going from stainless to ceramic) are better.....less force needed for casting.

 

I took a curado of mine apart the other day that I have boca orange seal ceramics and they were rusted up. When they were new they worked great though.


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Neutral here as well.

 

You will not be happy if you replace new oem bearings with any upgraded bearings. I use them to replace worm or corroded bearings because the price is about the same and they hold up pretty good. If you don't take care of them they will go bad just like any bearing.

 

We all know what opinions are like



First off this is about Boca orange seal not some china knock off.

Boca is a High quality .high performance upgrade rhat is not for every fishierman.
With any upgrade if its not installed properly and sefviced regularly it will not perform.

I will make this chalange to anyone:

Bring your reel to me and have it service, and bearings upgraded. If you are not 100% satisfied I will refund the full price. I call it the wow factor when you pick your reel you will be impressed or your money back.

 

I have not found a bearing yet that won't rust if you don't put a little lube on it.Too much will slow it down ,they need a little for protection from the elements

 

Ceramic hybrid bearings have steel races and ceramic balls. Ceramic balls are suitable for applications where high loads, high speeds and extreme temperatures are factors. Long life and the need for minimal lubrication make this material appropriate for extreme applications. Ceramic is non-porous, non-magnetic, non corrosive and lighter than steel. In ball form, ceramic balls are also harder than steel and because ceramic balls are non-porous they are virtually frictionless and capable of spinning faster than steel balls.
As fishermen we are always looking for an edge. try it before you knock it.

 

Do you still have the sale going on the orange seal?

 

Boca bearings made a world of difference for me. I had 4 Curado's supertuned and wish I had done it sooner, well worth the money.

 

I think the Bocas are worth it to me. I use the OS without the seals. Will cast as far or further with less effort. Still have to do maintenance on them and add oil every now and then.

The OEM bearings from Shimano are not bad, but I think the ABEC 7 on the OS are worth it to me. Some say they don't notice enough difference to justify the cost.

If you can get them on sale, maybe try them :cheers:.

 

Coverted all my abu's over to boca abec 5 ceramic spool bearings and polished up the contact surfaces, made a pretty good difference to me. I decided to give the boca abec 7 orange seals a try in one of my abu revo inshore and orra inshore. I cant tell any difference between the 7 and the 5 to be honest.

Only reels ive stuck with the factory bearings is my shimano chronarch 200e6 and concept tx reels. The oem bearings have been plenty good for me so far.

Give the Bocas a try when they are on sale...not much to lose. As far as oiling, i get mine dry then rub a very thin film of the 321 synthetic lube on em. No probs so far in last 4 yrs.

 

I have done the wow factor as you call it on my own stuff. Lol....Nothing really special just time cleaning and polishing. Boca bearings this size are typically made by precision bearings. At least all the bocas I bought directly from them were.

Ceramics are noisy. I used them in my RC car when I raced. The time to clean and relive was not worth it. Spin free yes, but when you have a bearing with no grease and oil it's going to be free.

Abec 7 is a pretty tight tolerance and really overkill for a reel. Some people make these seem like the 8th wonder of the world for reels on this thread. It's not.

You can buy directly from Boca which I preferred. They usually have a discount and comes out the same shipped to your door.

Truth is if you have had good luck with stock why change out. Bocas really are not any better but that is all personal opinion

 

I have done the wow factor as you call it on my own stuff. Lol....Nothing really special just time cleaning and polishing. Boca bearings this size are typically made by precision bearings. At least all the bocas I bought directly from them were.

Ceramics are noisy. I used them in my RC car when I raced. The time to clean and relive was not worth it. Spin free yes, but when you have a bearing with no grease and oil it's going to be free.

Abec 7 is a pretty tight tolerance and really overkill for a reel. Some people make these seem like the 8th wonder of the world for reels on this thread. It's not.

You can buy directly from Boca which I preferred. They usually have a discount and comes out the same shipped to your door.

Truth is if you have had good luck with stock why change out. Bocas really are not any better but that is all personal opinion

X2, they aren't really worth it and go bad too fast. They are noisey and loose their supposed "wow factor" after less than a few trips. They lose all their smoothness too quickly and are Nasty loud.
I have tried orange seals, regular 5s,etc.
Back when we were doing reels we started pushing shimanos oem anti rust bearings, which I have personally rested, and they remain smooth and quiet after several trips.
I have nothing to gain by giving out this information, just giving out my $. 02.
Not bashing because boca is a great company and stands behind their product, but i would stay away.

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I only clean reels for my family and a few firefighter buds, I have gone through all of our reels cleaned and polished everything i could. i use royal purple oil on bearings and the blue waterproof grease on gears, use shimano drag grease on drags. Normally we will fish 3-4 days/nights in a a row, sometimes fishing almost all night, I will takes a q tip and wipe off the worm gear and lube it and open reels up and put a drop of oil on spool bearings if need be, our reels run quite and are smooth. Usually after such a trip i set down and break each reel down and give it a light cleaning. We keep salt away in a spray bottle and spritz reels down and wipe off wipe off with a damp cloth to help with corrosion.

any reel is only as good as your maintenance.

good luck tight lines and screaming drags to all

 

Waz up Trout! how ya been?!

 

hey Dip how you been? everything is good GOD is great i am still walking and talking, still using the royal purple i got from you, with good results

 

You know me brotha, I'm not happy unless im going Mac 10 with my hair on fire! LOL Life is good! I'm enjoying my new job with Lowes in Bryan as a project specialist for interior remodels. Family is doing well, Matt is 16, working and driving now( Help me!) Kathryn and Connor (4 and 18mo) are running the roost and making daddy laugh every day. Cindy is killing it in real estate. She's been in it three years now and is making 6 figures. Me, I'm still doing the reel thing on the side, but not doing near as many as in the past, just not enough time. I still have my group of peeps that use me on a regular basis and I control that. Family time is more important. Life has finally eased up on me and I'm in heaven. I still poke my head in from time to time just to see how all the old timers are doing. If ya ever wanna chat gimme a shout bro..Dip 713 412 1769

 

It's been a long time Dip :cheers:. It's been a while since you cleaned some of my reels, but you did an awesome job as always. Do you still have that can of T-9 Boeshield I gave you back in the day? I gave you the can to spray my reel frames when you had the reels broke down. You acted like you liked the spray and I had an extra can.

Just cleaned my my Chronarch 100B reel that has OS and they are still in great shape and the free spool is just as "amazing", so the "Wow" factor is still there. Just an FYI.

 

http://www.vxb.com/

 

Casting distance is very important to me, stock bearings do not hold a candle to the ABEC 7 orange seal bearings, I do not remove the orange seals simply because there is no performance difference and a cover on my bearings can not be bad in salt water. I've changed out my core 50's and actually all of my reels. I recommended them to a gentleman in his 6o's been fishing his whole life and he was very impressed. Mine have not diminished in quality at all and I fish my reels weekly. I highly recommend it if distance is important.