Boca Bearings or Replacing Bearings Period

I have 24 Curado 200E7's with some that have been being used since they were originally bought over 12 years ago and others that were new in the box until about 18 months ago. As time as gone on, I have not been great at breaking them completely down and cleaning, oiling, etc, etc. I have however done routine cleaning and oiling and as a gerenal take great care of my stuff. I am now however thinking I would like to replace the bearings on some of the older ones and am curious what the "experts" on here think about it and if Boca's are the way to go?

Then lastly, if the thought is this is a good thing, is there someone local to Frisco or the Cypress Springs area that provides this service you would recommend. I plan to do at least 10 of them and have a window coming up where I won't be fishing much so can drop them off without if affecting my time on the water.

Air bearings from Hedgehog studio (online) are better than Boca's and they aren't all that expensive, at least 5 years ago when I ordered some. They are very easy to replace in Shimano reels.

Also, dads ol tackle have kits which have All the bearings. Personally i would clean the reels, and replace the spool bearings only. If you have any questions let me know, i can walk you thru a cleaning..

Prosise

^^^^ What he said

Thanks guys. I will look into the above suggestion on the cleaning and replacing of the spool bearing.

I just bought bearings for 3 green curados. One set from Spool hi-speed bearings and two sets from Cat5 bearings.

https://category5bearings.com/
https://www.spoolspeed.com/

So far I am impressed with both. The spool shipped super quick.

Before you do any of that, take the bearings out and clean them.

Put them in a jar lid or small dish along with some cleaner. A couple ounces will clean a dozen or more bearings. I use Birchwood Casey Reel Scrubber but they don't make it anymore. When you drop the bearings in with the cleaner you will see dark stuff coming out of the bearings as soon as you put them in. If your cleaner is that good you only leave them in a minute or two then blow them out and immediately put a light weight synthetic oil in the bearing. Then spin the bearing fast and try to remove the oil. That will leave the bearing with a light coat of oil.

If you have not done it in a year or more it will seem like a new reel.

What would you use as a cleaner if you didn't have the Birchwood Casey Reel Scrubber?

WD-40 works great as a cleaner. I will blow it out, let them dry & put reel oil in them.

Rubbing alcohol works good as well, brake cleaner works but is harsh, if you need help, I can completely dismantle and service them.

As stated above...clean first, then replace as needed.

That being said, I have some specialty reels made just for BFS as I like to drop shot 1/32 weights. They have the above Hedgehog Air spool bearings in them. Talk about ease of casting, but they make a terrible mess of your reel if you get a professional overrun.

I like the category 5 bearings; they have buy one get one free going on right now.
Ronsonol lighter fluid works well for cleaning

You got 12 years out of the originals, just get a new set of factory replacements and call it done.

I recently did this to my old green Curado and 2 old silver Citicas along with a thorough cleaning thanks to some great Youtube videos. Very easy process. I replaced with the Air Hog Ceramics ($8 each I think) and wow what a difference. I ended up having to put on one more brake for now. I didn't use any oil at all on the bearings but that might be a good idea just to slow the bearings down a tad bit.

Reel/Bearing Cleaner: Coleman Fuel (u know, for camping lanterns or stoves). GREAT STUFF

Don't forget to flush the new bearings they are full of grease. But 100% better than boca after they are flushed.

Just get the Air bearings that I suggested. You will see a big improvement. Take the old ones out, put the new ones in, and go fishing, simple as that but you will be making longer casts with the Air bearings. The Hedgehog web site is easy to navigate through. Just put in the reel you are changing the bearings in and it will give you several suggestions.

Replaced the bearings in several of my Curados with the air bearings. Love them. Like previously mentioned, cheaper than other brands and perform flawlessly.

Got ceramic bearings, 3x10x4, during the Classic Expo from the Spool speed guy and work great so far on Shimano Caenan.
Should be the same size for Curado E7.

These are the best I have used, I ordered through tackletrap

I swapped to ZPI bearings in all my high end reels. But I use other hybrid ceramics in mid-priced reels. ZPIs require regular maintenance, however.