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"King Conquest" Modification (2015 Shimano Conquest 300/400)


Cranky
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So... I wasn't sure where to put this work-in-progress project but figured I'd keep a running post on it here. This is a topic for those that want to have the best tools for the pursuit... for guys interested in 300/400 sized Shimano reels... I promise it's worth the somewhat long read...and yes I know all of this stuff is expensive!

 

The background is that many people love the Shimano Calcutta 400B/400TE reels for swimbaits with 24 and 25 inches per handle turn (IPT) respectively at 5.0:1 gear ratios. These reels have arguably the perfect balance of line capacity, POWER, and smoothness for a variety of big bait applications. When you need to get to 'crankin' aka 'winchin' these reels have what it takes to land giants. The Shimano Conquest (old model) was internally identical to the Calcutta 400TE so... 5.0:1 and 25 IPT, also very much sought after and beloved. For the sake of further discussion, the 300 and 400 sized reels in all models are identical internally so this applies to 300/400/301/401 models regardless of spool-width. Some other important relatively-new Shimano conventions are that "HG" reels stand for high-gear and "PG" model reels stand for power-gear.

 

The high-end Shimano line-up has been in for quite the upgrade over the last few years, X-ship which made it possible to implement micro module gearing (smaller gear teeth with higher contact area). The reels are the bordering on works of art from an engineering design standpoint in my opinion.  

 

While I wasn't as impressed with the Calcutta D release, the 2014/2015 Conquest line-up really is spectacular. Full disclosure up front, I love the new Conquest reels. The 2014 Conquest releases were 100/200 sized reels in 5.2:1 and 4.8:1 gear ratios respectively both with roughly 23 IPT. Based on current popular tackle trends toward higher gear ratios and high demand for those in the saltwater markets worldwide (new-school jigging is wildly popular)... 2015 saw the release of Conquest 300/400 sizes both in 5.6:1 gear ratios and 30 IPT, 100HG/200HG sizes in 6.8:1 and 6.2:1 gear ratios respectively with also 30 IPT, and among a new line of saltwater jigging-specific reels (AKA not meant to cast) a "Ocea Conquest" in a 300HG size with 6.2:1 gear ratio and 33 IPT. Lots of faster reels in 2015! But what if you don't WANT 30+ IPT and WANT smoothness plus more power? MANY people have commented that the "new" Conquest is awesome but lacks the power of the "old" Conquest & 400TE. It's because of the 5.6:1 gear ratio at 30 IPT vs the 5.0:1 gear ratio at 25 IPT, regardless of the newer gearing design being improved, it can't make up for that big of difference in mechanical advantage. It's just simple physics.

 

Enter the "Japan-only" 2016 release... a lonely "Ocea Conquest" 300PG/301PG. The rest of the world awaited more exciting releases and lobbied hard for a finesse casting version (BFS for those that care which is being released in 2017)...

 

...but that lonely 2016 release was the perfect storm for me. I had been watching... waiting... hoping. The 2015 Ocea Conquest 300HG gave me reason to hold out hope that the 2016 300 PG would come. At long last... the 300PG was a reality. From lots of reel schematic studying, talks with Shimano USA, and talks with Shimano Japan I knew that the gear sets between 300/400/301/401 sized reels were interchangeable. Lots of searching and contacting both PLAT LLC (Japan) and Jun at Japan Tackle (SHOUT OUT!) led me to what I desired.

 

May I present to you the fruits of one man's quest:

 

http://japantackle.com/po1611021.html (If they're currently out of stock just email them)

 

http://japantackle.com/po1701172.html (If they're currently out of stock just email them)

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends and Enemies, you may now take a 2015 Conquest 300/400 and 301/401 and convert them into a 4.8:1 gear ratio at 25 IPT. The "NEW" ultimate balance of line capacity, power, and smoothness. With the addition of X-ship and micro-module gears and modern design over the prior Calcutta TE and Conquests, the punch line is an even smoother, more powerful reel at 25 IPT. The ultimate swimbait reel in my opinion.

 

The upgrade consists of drive/pinion gear plus drag and key washers from that "lonely" Ocea Conquest 300PG/301PG Japan-only release. Yes the internals for the 300/400/301/401 sized reels are the same and yes the gears are available for both left and right hand reels. Coincidentally enough if for whatever reason you also wanted a 6.2:1 gear ratio with 33 IPT you could also request the Ocea Conquest 300HG/301HG gear set if you so desired.

 

From my perspective it's amazing to have an updated Conquest 300/400/301/401 available in 25, 30, or 33 IPT. Yes, this takes a little work and some patience to order parts. Eventually I believe they will come out with  Conquest "PG" version but who knows when or if ever. If you order from Jun at Japan Tackle the gear conversion set is $46 and shipping is $10... should take about 3-4 weeks to receive parts since they need to first be ordered from Shimano Japan in-country. Full disclosure, I also ordered from PLAT LLC Japan because they have wonderful reel schematics and part ordering direct on their website and I wanted to give them a shot at well. At times I wasn't sure if the schematics were in Japanese or Ancient Alien, eventually it all started to be a blur. I'm in no way affiliated with either company, just passing on the info of who I ordered through for others' benefit.

 

My upgrades are underway and will be fished this season for additional feedback. I'll keep SU in the loop as far as how things are going and the comparison in ACTUAL performance between the 400TE, Old Conquest 400, 2015 Conquest 400 5.6:1, and the "Ultimate Swimbait Reel" AKA "Cranky Special" AKA "King Conquest" 400 4.8:1 Conquestzilla.

 

I'm also planning to do handle, bearing, and lubrication upgrades in the future but figured that's a whole 'nother story. This gear ratio change has been a side project that's turned into quite the adventure and I figured some of the SU crowd would find useful.

 

Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok, so my parts came in from Japan Tackle and it's even simpler than anticipated! YOU CAN DO THIS.

 

Again FULL DISCLOSURE: You can do this upgrade yourself! I'm not a reel tech, not a work-on-my-own-car-engine kinda guy, sure I can change a flat tire or oil, but don't think that this requires some high level mechanic skills by any stretch of the imagination. All you need to do is open the reel up and swap the two gears with the new ones. That's it. It does take a little patience, make sure you lay the parts out in order as you disassemble to get them back in correctly, and you do need to apply a little grease (I used Cal's) to the new gears but honestly it's not hard. It took me about 30 minutes to do it and the hardest part was finding a little screwdriver small enough to remove the screws that hold the frame together. The rest was a breeze.

 

Upgrade "Kit": I got a Drive Gear, Pinion Gear, and a metal key washer (for holding the drag washers down inside the drive gear. The key washer appeared to be identical to the 5.6:1 gear ratio one but I used the new one just incase. That's it, there's really not a lot of parts. Comments on the 3 parts:

 

1.) Drive Gear: Visually the 4.8:1 gear looks similar to the 5.6:1 gear, the difference in size of teeth and number of teeth is subtle but there.

 

2.) Pinion Gear: The 4.8:1 gear is immediately more confidence inspiring than the 5.6:1. To me this is a clear power and robustness upgrade. Not saying the old one was not adequate, just saying this new one is an obvious change.

 

3.) Key Washer: Not sure why this part was deemed necessary and I imagine future "kits" will only need to include the two gears.

 

So what do we get with the upgrade "on paper":

 

SPEED: Inches per turn "IPT" from 30" down to 25.6": This gets you back to the 400TE and Old Conquest speed range but at a slightly lower gear ratio. I want the best reel available that I can fish slow/power applications on; hudds, glides, wakes, umbrellas, whatever, etc.  

 

POWER: 25.6" @ 4.8:1 ratio will be SIGNIFICANTLY better than 30" @ 5.6:1. That's the only gripe I've heard about the new Conqests, that they're not as powerful as the old version... not anymore! The old 400TE/Conquest was 25" @ 5.0:1 so I expect this to be a little more powerful than the old gold standard TE gearing-wise. Also very important is that the new Conqest has X-ship which is a bearing supported pinion gear which keeps the drivetrain aligned under load to improve power transfer and durability. Translation: I expect the new King Conquest 4.8:1 modification to be the most powerful of all the Calcutta/TE/Conquest options to date (in the relevant  100/200/300/400 size ranges).

 

SMOOTHNESS: While the gear upgrade doesn't change how the new Conquest feels, man... it's infinitely smoother on the retrieve than the old 400TE/Conquest. Those feel "geary" now by comparison. It's night and day different. To me this translates into MUCH better feel of the bait working and less harshness/vibration of the reel being transmitted to your hand. It allows you to focus even more on the bait and eliminates "noise". Big big plus for me.

 

DRAG: The max drag should go from 15.4# to 18.0#, in the event you wanted a higher drag it's a bonus. This is because of the mechanical advantage between the drag/spool being improved in favor of the 4.8:1 gearing. I fish a lot of cranked down drag for certain applications and I wasn't slipping any drag before at unwanted times, so I don't think I'll notice any difference in the drag in actual fishing applications. In my opinion if you want more drag there's a lot of room for improvement with larger drag washers (there's more space left than you'd picture once you open it up and look at where the drag washers sit) and upgraded carbontex washers if you so desire, for me there's no reason to mess with the drag right now.

 

In the end...

 

...

 

...so anyway, hope you all enjoy and someone can benefit from my experience. I actually enjoyed the adventure of taking this on more than I thought I would. It really was much easier than I thought it'd be in the beginning and the end result easily EXCEEDED my expectations. Kind of a side note but the stock Shimano bearings were full of oil (and some grease) so I replaced them with HH Air HD lubed with TSI321 (also really easy) and I'm going to be putting an even larger handle on one of mine for even more power.  I'll be doing lots of practical on-the-water goofing around with the King Conquest, new stock Conquest, old Conquest, and TE reels this season but I gotta tell you already... the King is the King.

 

I bet I have the nicest, most powerful, and smoothest swimbait reel on the Planet right now (my opinion)! I bet you're gonna want one too, go order the gear set and have fun. You really can do it. Really.

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One thing I forgot to add... you don't need any special tools to do the conversion. The only thing you might need to track down is a very small screwdriver for removing the screws that hold the side plate on... they're pretty small and in tight spots. I had one around the house that worked so keep it in mind if you want to open a Conquest up for any reason. Otherwise everything else just needed a basic wrench to remove the handle nut and drag star nut.

 

Here's a link to the instructions that were added to Japan Tackle, you'll see the two small screws that hold the spool braking system in place and also the two small screws on the handle-side of the inside of the reel. Those 4 little screws you're gonna want something small to get at.

 

http://japantackle.com/how-to-14conq-gear.html

Edited by Cranky
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If you want the Ocea 300HG 6.2:1 gears you can look up the part numbers on Plat and order them yourself directly off their website or email Jun at Japan Tackle and have him look into the part numbers and pricing for you. My experience trying both was that Japan Tackle was about 2 weeks faster with part delivery but if you're a DIY kind of person using the Plat website to order parts is more hands on.

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  • 2 years later...
On 9/14/2019 at 10:58 AM, trav said:

With this being a 2 year old post, how many of you have done this since it was posted? I recently got a 301 Conquest and was wondering if it had benefited anyone else?

I’ve got both the 4 and 6 gears sitting in my reel box. Was planning on buying 1-2 other conquests to do it but the model change kind of screw that up

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