OKUMA SD-20L ... Drag Help or Garbage Time?

[RustyTank]

I've got a pair of OKUMA SD-20L reels... Served me well on a couple inshore salt-water baitcaster rods... but the drags have degraded steadily... (crank em all the way down... and still can't work even a small fish...) can I improve/fix the drags? Or are these reels too cheep to make any work more than the reels are worth?

[kamuwela]

have you taken it apart yet? maybe some service and drag grease may be all you need.

[Bryan Young]

Most reels are worth saving.  New greased drags would help and of course, a good cleaning and greasing.

[alantani]

easy fix!!!!  new drags and a new handle grip.  figure 30 minutes of bench time.   

[alantani]

any luck with the reel?

[RustyTank]

I hear some fellow in CA named Alan just worked magic on 2 of them!

[alantani]

yup, all done.  the paint was peeling off the handles pretty badly. i scraped off the loose stuff and got a coat of grease on the handle to stop the rest.  we'll need an alternative later.  okuma might have something. 

[Bryan Young]

to live an fish another day.

[coastalobsession]

If you plan on trashing it give me a holler. I will pay for shipping.

[alantani]

they've been fixed.