Handle support bearing

[mark poulson]

Is Quantum the only reel manuf. who puts a bearing on top of the AR bearing, between it and the drag star mechanism?

[ShimanoFan]

No. Quantum is not the only one. A few other brands also do this same thing.

The real question I have is how necessary the 3rd bearing is for the drive shaft?

I work on tons of reels with and without this bearing. All of them work. Even those without this extra bearing.

My question is, does an axle, or in the case of reels, a drive shaft, need 3 bearings?

My personal opinion is no since so many reels work just fine for decades without it.

So for some brands, throwing in extra bearings is little more than a sales gimmick than an actual engineering need.

[mark poulson]

No. Quantum is not the only one. A few other brands also do this same thing.

The real question I have is how necessary the 3rd bearing is for the drive shaft?

I work on tons of reels with and without this bearing. All of them work. Even those without this extra bearing.

My question is, does an axle, or in the case of reels, a drive shaft, need 3 bearings?

My personal opinion is no since so many reels work just fine for decades without it.

So for some brands, throwing in extra bearings is little more than a sales gimmick than an actual engineering need.

Would you mind telling me which other brand of reels has them?

[ShimanoFan]

You would ask that! Oh man, let's see, Shimano, Abu, Bass Pro, Browning come to mind.

I am sure there are more brands doing it too.

[mark poulson]

You would ask that! Oh man, let's see, Shimano, Abu, Bass Pro, Browning come to mind.

I am sure there are more brands doing it too.

Thanks.

[adam lancia]

Daiwa also has 3 bearing supporting the drive shaft: 2 ball bearings and the AR bearing.

[mark poulson]

Daiwa also has 3 bearing supporting the drive shaft: 2 ball bearings and the AR bearing.

Thanks. i figured it had to relieve some of the pressure and eccentric load on the AR bearing, especially for flipping and punching, where there is so much torque applied to the handle.

[ShimanoFan]

Daiwa also has 3 bearing supporting the drive shaft: 2 ball bearings and the AR bearing.

Thanks. i figured it had to relieve some of the pressure and eccentric load on the AR bearing

Even though this might be true, there are probably more reels made without a 3rd bearing than there are with it.

The point is, that 3rd bearing may not always be necessary because solid steel can hold a lot more pressure and weight and torque than any human can deliver.

So whatever a person does with the handle is not going to damage an AR bearing by just fishing with it. We do not put that much pressure or torque on the handle or reels. But the reel housing itself is another story. Plastic frames, carbon frames, etc. all bend and twist.

So if anything, that 3rd bearing is more for precision alignment and reducing drive shaft play more so than relieving any torque or pressure on the AR bearing. And since so many reels do not even have this bearing and many last for decades without issues.

One of the reasons I can see for the addition of that 3rd bearing for alignment deals with keeping the main drive gear properly aligned to the pinion gear.

And this becomes much more necessary in higher speed reels where the gear teeth are smaller, shorter, and easier to jump track if any misalignment occurs.

Taller, bigger, wider, more coarse gear teeth can wobble around a little bit and still be OK. But when using cheap aluminum gears that is a very soft metal, and then include the higher speeds which means more teeth which means smaller teeth, shorter, and more narrow and very easy to jump track, then a 3rd bearing makes more sense to me.

So I don't think that bearing is there to really take any load off the AR bearing as much as it is there to keep the entire drive shaft in a more perfect alignment to prevent gear jumping under torque and twisting frame issues.

Just my .01 cent opinion on the subject.

[mark poulson]

Daiwa also has 3 bearing supporting the drive shaft: 2 ball bearings and the AR bearing.

Thanks. i figured it had to relieve some of the pressure and eccentric load on the AR bearing

Even though this might be true, there are probably more reels made without a 3rd bearing than there are with it.

The point is, that 3rd bearing may not always be necessary because solid steel can hold a lot more pressure and weight and torque than any human can deliver.

So whatever a person does with the handle is not going to damage an AR bearing by just fishing with it. We do not put that much pressure or torque on the handle or reels. But the reel housing itself is another story. Plastic frames, carbon frames, etc. all bend and twist.

So if anything, that 3rd bearing is more for precision alignment and reducing drive shaft play more so than relieving any torque or pressure on the AR bearing. And since so many reels do not even have this bearing and many last for decades without issues.

One of the reasons I can see for the addition of that 3rd bearing for alignment deals with keeping the main drive gear properly aligned to the pinion gear.

And this becomes much more necessary in higher speed reels where the gear teeth are smaller, shorter, and easier to jump track if any misalignment occurs.

Taller, bigger, wider, more coarse gear teeth can wobble around a little bit and still be OK. But when using cheap aluminum gears that is a very soft metal, and then include the higher speeds which means more teeth which means smaller teeth, shorter, and more narrow and very easy to jump track, then a 3rd bearing makes more sense to me.

So I don't think that bearing is there to really take any load off the AR bearing as much as it is there to keep the entire drive shaft in a more perfect alignment to prevent gear jumping under torque and twisting frame issues.

Just my .01 cent opinion on the subject.

Makes sense. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

[LgMouthGambler]

Daiwa also has 3 bearing supporting the drive shaft: 2 ball bearings and the AR bearing.

Yep. Keeps everything more on the straight side under loads, and helps to keep the load off the AR bearing. I dont know why more companies arent using this, at least in the higher end reels anyways. Kind of on the same lines of having a dual supported pinion gear.

[mark poulson]

Daiwa also has 3 bearing supporting the drive shaft: 2 ball bearings and the AR bearing.

Yep. Keeps everything more on the straight side under loads, and helps to keep the load off the AR bearing. I dont know why more companies arent using this, at least in the higher end reels anyways. Kind of on the same lines of having a dual supported pinion gear.

That is my thinking, too. When I'm cranking hard on a big fish, I think it keeps the eccentric load off of the AR bearing, so it can still perform it's own, separate task.