Curado I series -What To Do

[Bootytrain]

Swap the handle and knobs for weight savings, shallow spool for better casting.

[lpquick]

Orange seals if want the best performance use them open and if your worried about debris use them closed.

[SteveSchmelzle]

man...wish I would have bought 7 Curado in the "d" series....

never know when Shimano will hit it "right" with a Curado....when they do, buy them up, cause you know they will be discontinued by the time you blink next.

[Frosty]

The best upgrade I've done that affects casting performance immediately is Hedgehog bearings, specifically the BFS bearings, but the next step up for all purpose casting is still very impressive. When I've tried the Orange Seals in the past I've had trouble discerning a noticeable difference.

[goosed]

I'm back in the camp of clean the stock bearings really good (took me three cycles the way I do it) and use TSI. I did upgrade to a alien express handle on my 200 and 70.

[Finesse68]

When I took mine apart i flushed the bearings, polished the drag stack, spool shaft and gears. Didn't bother with the friction ring, I just keep a light film of oil on it. Seems to cast like a champ on my 745 dobyns extreme, definetly lazer beamed my lures into a few banks afterwards

[egore1]

Do the I models use a bearing on the main shaft? If not that'd be a great addition for increased smoothness.
I'm not a fan of polishing due to issues with consistency with material sizing. Hate to remove too much material ect...

I do think a proper cleaning of the pinion gear bore and other items that can slow spool rotation can be beneficial. Using a thick grease like Shimanos drag grease on the main gears works well for my reels. I've messed with lots of grease and that one or a high pressure synthetic from Chevron happen to be my favorites.

Are there smaller break blocks available for these reels? My Metanium responded great to swapping lighter breaks on the spool.

[brownhl]

When you say main shaft do you mean spool shaft? No, the Curado I has no bearing on the spool shaft. For increased spool stability there is a small bearing under the spool bearing in the handle cover and they are separated by a small vinyl bushing. This is called the "XShip" feature. There is a bearing on the drive shaft. The Curado 70 and the Chronarch 150 also have the XShip feature.

[Jeffbro999]

Main shaft/ drive shaft has a bearing on the Curado I. Only bearings missing are handle bearings and I believe it will accept a worm gear bearing. Xship bearing supports the pinion gear to keep gears in perfect alignment, not the spool shaft. It is the same size as the driveshaft bearing.