Thanks for your reply and congrats on getting an appointment for the vaccine! I would like to be able to set drag to 15-20# at strike, but with the FTH40NLD2, I started losing freespool around 12#. I thought it was just the particular reel I had, but after taking it back to the shop, getting it serviced, and eventually replaced, I'm only able to get the replacement to around 14# at strike before the freespool is impacted. Seems consistent with what other BDers are experiencing with theirs without any modifications.
Is the TRQ40NLD2 designed to be able to achieve higher drag than its FTH counterpart without affecting free spool? I imagine with the better materials/tighter tolerances, the TRQ's are more likely to outperform FTH's, but it's interesting that you're able to achieve the same drag results between the two.
That is definitely not normal with FTH40NLD2's.
I know that at least one of those reels that was underperforming went back to the factory, and was found to have some parts assembled in the wrong sequence.
As noted, since I already had the Rapala scale hanging from my stairway railing [almost the same way I hang it from the boat railing on the way out!], I grabbed one of my loaner FTH40NLD2's that has received some rough treatment, and had also not been factory serviced since March 2019.
Again it easily got 22 pounds at Strike with total freespool.
Factory spec is 23 pounds, but didn't go any further than the 22.
There is one other trick you may try that mirrors what some of the boats do, who use FTH's for their "loaners".
They just tell the [usually novice] anglers to treat the "Full" position as Strike.
Generally in their excitement, novices just push right past the indent anyway.
Doing this loses you some of the top end, so it would depend on exactly how much drag you would want at "Sunset".
Setting it at 20 pounds at "Full" would mean you would probably get 24-25-ish at Sunset.