Daiwa's DRD Drag Care & Maintenance

I usually put all relevant information about a reel in its review, but today I'm making an exception and publishing some tips on the maintenance of Daiwa's DRD (Dura Roller Drag). The reason for this exception is that I'm actively fishing the 2025 Saltiga reels, currently the only model that has DRD drag, but it's a long process and the review is still quite some time away. This drag happens to be very care-intensive, and I'm worried that by the time the review is ready many would've suffered issues due to improper care or being given the wrong information.

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In the future I might integrate these maintenance tips in the Reel Care article, but for now here you go;

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What is the DRD?

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It's a drag system that swaps traditional fibre brake discs for metal ones bearing small rollers. As I explained in a previous article, it's Daiwa's interpretation of a concept that's been employed in a brand of Japanese conventional reels for decades.

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These metal washers look big and thick in promotional material, but the reality is different

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They are very small and thin, requiring care when handling or they could bend and deform. Here is one, and it's barely wider than my sexy finger. I mean have you ever seen a more perfect finger? I'm such a male-babe sometimes I struggle to comprehend just how gorgeous I am. But I digress....

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Why are you calling them care-intensive?

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Because they are. Unlike traditional fibre discs that essentially keep going until it's time for seasonal reel maintenance or can even be left alone for years if the drag isn't heavily used or contaminated, the metal discs of the DRD require frequent cleaning and application of fresh grease.

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Daiwa says this process is required whenever 2000-3000 metres of line have been released at 10kg of drag force, which in my opinion creates more questions than it gives answers;

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- "2000 to 3000" is a very wide margin of +50%, which I find arbitrary and unacceptable for clear instructions to the end user. The user should not be left wondering whether it's time to take action or he can still go HALF as much as he already did. 5-10% discretionary margin is alright, 50% is too much.  

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- It's very impractical to ask someone to keep track of the length of line pulled out, let alone pulled at a specific drag pressure. I've been fishing the DRD for almost 2 months, and despite being someone who kinda knows how to keep track of such details I have no idea how much line was pulled out, and my tidiest estimate would be somewhere between 1300 and 2100 metres which is a very big margin of error.

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- Assuming one knows approximately the length of line pulled, how should he adjust it for the actual drag he used? Daiwa states X metres at 10kg of drag, but what if a person fishes sometimes at higher drag and other times at lower drag than this 10kg? I personally have not yet fought a fish at more than 5-6kg of drag. Is there an equation where I enter the length of line pulled at 5kg and the length pulled at 3kg to calculate the adjusted drag service frequency in this specific case?

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What are you suggesting then?

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I suggest that you develop your own sense for when the drag begins to feel different, then do the service immediately just to be safe. If you wait until the drag gives audible clues, which in my experience is a faint but sharp whistling sound, you're already doing damage to the system. Hopefully by the time I'm done fishing these reels I would have developed an easier system to decide when it's time for drag maintenance, but until then use your own senses to spot any difference in feel and don't wait too long.

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Should the reel be sent to Daiwa for drag service?

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No. Considering the frequency of the needed service, sending it each time would be a nightmare both for Daiwa and the fishermen. That's why in an unprecedented move Daiwa tells the fishermen to do the service themselves, and they provide detailed instructions on how to carry it on.

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Should I use my favourite drag grease?

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No. Use only Daiwa's DRD grease. I was told about it during my trip to Japan in February before the reels hit the market, and now that grease is finally about to go on sale

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Do not use any other grease on the DRD washers, and do not use this DRD grease on regular fibre washers. I know the dirty tricks of the trade, so I'm predicting that you'll be told to use other greases that people want to sell you, they'll tell you it's tried and tested by "experts", they'll claim it's formulated with the exact same composition, or they'll tell you it comes from the same factory that supplies Daiwa but only with a different label. This claim was made before by people marketing alternative ferrofluid for Daiwa's mag seals, and sadly it was believed by the same naive boomers who rush to the scammy "diversify your savings with gold" companies just because their favourite podcasters told them to. This grease is proprietary, there aren't any approved alternatives at the time of writing, so use it and nothing else no matter what you're told. I've fulfilled my moral duty to warn you, now it's up to you to believe whatever you want and live with the consequences of your choices.

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Which models have this DRD drag?

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At the time I'm typing this in mid July 2025, the DRD comes standard in the 2025 Saltiga sizes 18000, 20000, 25000, as well as Daiwa's official SLP Works 14000 DRD spool which fits 8000, 10000, and 14000 reels.  

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I'm not the handy type. Is the service complicated?

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Not at all. You'll need to remove two wire retainers, pull the components out taking note of their order and orientation, fully clean them then apply a very thin layer of fresh DRD grease only on the washers with rollers, then put everything back. Here is a diagram for your reference

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Pay extra attention to the orientation of the two spring washers inside the compression tube (circled). Getting these wrong could cause serious damage to the drag knob and/or the main shaft.

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Is the DRD good? Bad? Is it worth it? Not worth it?

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If you're asking any of these questions you've got the whole thing wrong. This is not any sort of opinion or evaluation or judgement of the system or its merits. This can only be done credibly after extensive testing and real life experience, and you'll certainly hear my thoughts on that in the review. This quick blog is about cold hard descriptive facts and advice on avoiding bad information, assembled in one place for your convenience. Absolutely nothing more.

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If you have any questions feel free to get in touch HERE, and, as always, keep your eyes on the News page for all updates and information on upcoming content.

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Cheers

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Alan Hawk

July, 14th, 2025

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