Daiwa Freams 4500J - Changing Handle Bushing to Bearing

This article is posted at a local fishing forum, but somehow the photos were lost at the photo hosting website. Finally I managed to find the photos in my HDD and upload them again, so here it is.

Reel - Daiwa Freams 4500J
Bearing Size - 8.0 / 14.0 / 3.5 (Open Type)
Verdict - Indeed it feel much more smooth then it used to be before adding the bearing. As I didn't do any servicing to the reel during the change, thus I believe the finding should be correct. I will recommend the change.

The Bearing is the same size as the bearing found on the other side of the handle. Both are "Open" type bearings, as Shielded Bearing are too thick.

Get ready the stuff you need. In this case just the bearing. 

The Bearing is slap with a very thick coat of Grease or if you prefer can use oil (ignore the smaller one, that is for the rollwe bearing)

Much like you are servicing your reel, you will have to strip down almost everything (you might want to service your reel at the same time). For those who are unsure of what to do, the steps are as below.

Remove Spool and Handle assembly 

Remove the Gear and Washer on the shaft and remove the nut at the bottom. 

Remove all the screws on the side of the reel, do note the length and it's corresponding hole.  

Remove the Side cover of the reel 

Remove the screw that holds the centre shaft, position is at the tip of the screw driver. You might need to turn some of the gears to get the screw exposed. 

 

Remove the shaft from the top.

Start to take out the internal stuff of the reels. Take some pictures if you are not familiar with the reel. Actually it is pretty simple.

Now you will see the Black color bushing. See that there is 2 catch on the top and bottom of the bushing.  

Turn the reel over and use a Flathead screw driver to push the bushing out. As there are 2 catch on it, use a bit of force to get it out. Don't worry if you damage it, because you will not need it. 

See the Bushing and Bearing, Same Size.

 

Push the bearing into the position of the Bushing. Need a bit of force to get it in. Do note that the bearing and the surface will not be flushed.

Once in, start to put back the gears components and reverse the process. Stop to ensure that all is in order once a while before you put back together.
Check once you have got it correct by making sure that the gears are in contact and position. 

Start put pack everything. Once I have the cover in, I stop to check how the reel operate. Seems to be more smooth then it used to be. But non conclusive as the spool is not in yet.  

Spool In, Final check. Yeah it is indeed smooth then it used to be, given that I didn't do any servicing, it is indeed much more smooth.