Angular Contact Bearings for Leverdrags

[gstours]

Recently I,ve had some Issues with some Pinion bearings on some of my reels fished this summer, and some  other people want me to look at.
   Some past posts of several years back there was mention of these different types of bearings as a possible solution to the binding(failing) of the pinion bearing on high drag settings of some leverdrag reels.   
  I have noticed it is my complaint also when at near max settings the reels are harder to crank (empty) especially in high gear.
So I found the bearings some people mentioned in the A-T posts,  and it seems that Okuma makaira mentioned this bearing in their advertising.

This particular one is a 7 x 19 x 6mm VXB and purchased from Amazon for $13 inc shipping.

These seem to be available from Boca, and others,  here is the VXM  claim,
"A set of 2 single row angular contact ball bearings for universal arrangement supporting moderate thrust loads and combined radial and thrust loads"
  and then "ball contact angle of 40 degrees relative to the inner and outer raceways increases their thrust load capacity, available in an open configuration"
   I have replaced one pinion bearing on a 20 size leverdrag trolling reel and haven't fished it yet but it definitely

reduced the harder to crank feeling the the reel had at near max setting.
  I plan on replacing more pinion bearings with these and hope to report back with more of my boring findings.
  It seems too good to be true as this is a quick fix and if it works better, waay cool like carbon fiber drags, maybe its fools gold, but worth a try.

[Tiddlerbasher]

These do work but:
Try finding them in 5 & 6mm sizes - hens teeth - most manufacturers seem to start at 10mm
Rarely are they in stainless
With the exception of the one you found they tend to be way to expensive
Unless you use a 30-40 degree bearing the gain is noticeable but minimal
If you back off on the maximum drag you get a similar effect

I did experiment with them (I now have the most expensive Andros on the planet ) - with success - but I've returned to using plain ss bearings
Just my 2 cents

[johndtuttle]

As well, note most of the bearings in this class are using chrome steel balls....very susceptible to corrosion and not considered "saltwater grade" for the average guy who will neglect them. Packed with grease and monitored they should be fine for our purposes...just not acceptable for manufacturer's use as they need a higher quality bearing to handle their average user's neglect.

[boon]

Personally I'm a little more interested in finding a way to sneak one of these modern ultra-slim needle thrust bearing in to the places we have issues.

The other option I have wondered about is just using an extremely thin thrust washer on top of the bearing. I know for certain of a way of doing this that will inherently increase the maximum drag while decreasing side load (particularly on the pinion bearing) but I don't know if the increased axial friction will be a deal-breaker.

[gstours]

Thanks folks for the replys, and yes the problem seems to be the side thrust of the lever drag cam pushing the bejesus on the side bearings, pinoin and opposite side.   A thrust bearing would seem to work possibly, ya but how to fit them in and where as every reel is different yet almost the same. Engineering a disk brake for a drag would eliminate the side thrust of the cam.  or who knows what.

  As for me the corrosion is not going to be a problem for me as they are packed in grease, and alloy 5200 steel is not like low alloy or mild steel with its inherited problems.  If the angular contact bearing improves or eliminates the problem just be aware of the possible corrosion problem and take precautions.  Its not for everybody and everybody is just happy with what they got couse they dont know any better.

Seems like collectively we are improving some of our equipment, enjoying using the modified parts, and making a difference as sharing information is what makes this site great.  Thanks to all who contribute.