My original baitrunners, 3500 triton sea-spins are still in use and have never given me any serious trouble despite me giving them a LOT of abuse. They clank a bit these days - but so do I! Very average spool design on the original reels resulted in poor line lay but this is probably the only fault I could find with them. The replacement models - when they started to go double handle - were of much lower build quality but they got better over the years, right up to the 4000XT (?) which I thought had the best clutch of any reel out there. But... the spool came off my one after just one seasons use and won't lock on again. This also happened to a pal of mine with the same reel. Whilst in the states earlier this year I bought a pair of the 3500B. These look to be bomb-proof. The replacement for this reel is the lighter 4000 which someone else (?) has imported and reported on in another thread.
Shimano generally make great reels but some models are definitely a lot better than others. I would always suggest getting sea-fishing models over freshwater ones as they usually seem to be much better built.
