Think I might have hit the jack pot. I bought a 9/0 and I wanted to upgrade to ss gears and pinion. Well took it apart today and cleaned it. It looks like it already has ss gears and pinion. How can I tell?
The pinion is, but the main is steel. Its still a good set of gears. I prefer them over Bronze.
Will they still hold up with dawns drag kit and alans ss sleeve? If so should I get a ss yoke?
The only time it is required, is when you are Running Black Pearl Gears. You will be fine with the stock yoke.
So with the gears I have and dawns drag I can get about 35 lbs of drag. Of course alas ss sleeve
Stock should be around 26 lbs. That's with a 5 Stack. I wouldn't push it any harder without an Aluminum frame. If you twist the frame, bad things will happen. :o
I have found the main cause for frame twists are jerky drags. If the drags are pulling smoothly, line should peel off and the frames usually stay in alignment. But this was at stock drag levels.
You will be highly surprised at how much drag or pull 35 lbs. or even 20 lbs. actually is. I have guys in the shop all the time talking about how much drag. I give them a conventional reel and rod and with a drag scale locked in a vise I tell them to pull as hard as they can as when fighting a fish. They usually only pull 15 to maybe 20 lbs. before giving up.
The gear set you have is a good one and you will be fine with the drag upgrade and new gear sleeve. Just make sure to grease the gears well b/c they will rust. Even the pinion gear...