I left a couple of my rods in the back of my truck and they got rained on overnight. The drag on my h20 express mettles are now acting up. When you strip line, it is jerky/unsmooth and noisy. I guess I need to take them apart and take a look at the drag washers. What exactly do I need to do to get the drag operating smoothly again? Thanks

The drag washers need a light coat of grease.You probably need the entire reel cleaned and lubed.

Which brings me to another question. My reels seem to pick up a lot of dust in transport. Would throwing an old sock over them be an effective way to keep them cleaner while driving to where ever I'm fishing? Is there a certain product on the market specifically designed to keep your reels from being exposed to the elements?

Reel covers from bps or academy. Or plastic bags

An old sock would be much better than leaving them uncovered in the bed of your truck.

But to be honest with you, I would never carry my tackle loose in the bed of my truck. I take my rods in the cab if I'm not taking my boat. If it's a family trip, I put the rods in a PVC tube with caps on it to protect them, and put the reels in a bag or box. At the very least, you should take the reels off of the rods and put them in your vehicle. It only takes a couple of minutes to rerig them.

agree with every response. i will only put my rods in the bed of the truck if i have them loaded up in a rod transport bag. i have the one from bass pro...it only fits up to 7', but i arrange the rods so that all of the 7'3 rods exit the bag at the same spot so i can zip it all the way to that spot and protect my equipment. thats the only time i use that rod caddy though, it is kind of cumbersome