I'm, asking this because I'm not sure where exactly the weak link is. Is it the housing? Or the diff itself?

I have a MY03 which I drive daily. A couple times a year I like to head up to my local drag strip. I know, I know, this not a drag car...Blah, blah, blah. I'm not asking weather this car is meant to be dragged or not. I'm asking what's more likely to fail. The diff? or the housing?
I was almost dead set on getting a Cusco Diff or a Kazz Diff. But upon doing some searches, I've found that aftermarket diff's are quite noisy and chattery and require frequent oil flushes and possibly Differential Clutch replacements down the road not too mention the near $1,100 price tag.
So now I'm thinking maybe a Comptech Diff housing will suit me just fine. I don't plan to go SC or Turbo any time soon. Just an occasional pass down the drag strip a couple times per year.
So I'm wondering if anyone has ever broke their diff while using the Comptech reinforced diff housing. I've heard all the diff failures are due to the Diff casing flexing and allowing the diff to move and break. I heard if I had a reinforced housing, it would eliminate the flex of the casing and my diff should hold up. Is there any true to this? Can anyone shed some light on this subject fore me? Thanks.


Leo

 

yes the housing on the dif is the weak point.. i also heard that the 04 housing is much more durable due to different casing material.. you can bolt the 04 dif to the pre my00-03, you just need to change the companion flange of the 04 to 00-03 because the 04 driveshaft is slightly bigger than previous models..

 

so you're saying I should be fine for occasional drag racing using only a Reinforced Diff housing?
Of course no one can say, when or how a diff will explode but would you agree that a reinforced diff housing with a stock diff would be a better Daly driver/Occasional drag strip car then say, an upgraded diff with the stock housing?

 

If you want a quiet clutched differential, ATS has a carbon clutched one that's very quiet...a little more money. I have a stock diff with 444 gears in it and I'm SC'd. I have had no problems. My car tracks fairly regularly so I'm pretty sure the differential is stronger than you think.

I have wondered if the 444 gears because of their lower ratio take some strain off the drivetrain in front of the differential.

I wonder conversely if putting larger rims and wheels on the S helps contribute to differential failure.

fltsfshr

fltsfshr

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fltsfshr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have a stock diff with 444 gears in it and I'm SC'd. I have had no problems. My car tracks fairly regularly so I'm pretty sure the differential is stronger than you think.</TD></TR></TABLE>If you track the car on a road course, it will get much more use, but not abuse as in shock to the differential itself.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fltsfshr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I wonder conversely if putting larger rims and wheels on the S helps contribute to differential failure.</TD></TR></TABLE>
My guess is that it does. Both Dave and Rylan run 18x9's and 18x10's with slicks (not R's) and their diffs have failed. Yet, they have many more track miles, which equates to 3-4x's the amount of highway miles. Other members with larger wheels seem to fail prematurely, but others have not. I have a feeling it has to do with a combination of wheel size and driving habits.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GSRAW &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'm, asking this because I'm not sure where exactly the weak link is. Is it the housing? Or the diff itself?</TD></TR></TABLE>
From your questions I'm not too sure you've looked into how it works. It seems you are familiar with the parts to upgrade, but you might want to take a look at some images that are taken apart on s2ki. I know there are a few of shattered pinion gears out there, because this is typically what happens.

The weak link itself - the housing, but more importantly, how the insides are held together. The pinion gear backs off and shatters itself into the ring gear. The differential only has the wear of other differentials and seems to hold up pretty well as it is. Kaaz and others will have different effects in driving. IMO, it would seem to me that the differential itself (not the housing & gears) should be sufficient for your drag strip ventures. Shelling out 1K or more + installation (that is done correctly!) will not help out your times, and if they do, it will be a small fraction that will be butt-o-meter fluff, but will perform better as a whole.

If you are worried, take the plunge, get some gears and a reinforced diff housing.

 

Thanks Mr. bagel. Just the response I was looking for. can you belive I posted this very question on S2ki and didn't get one response. ******* old geezers. That place is falling to crap.

Anyhow, you took the words out of my mouth. Yes, I'm having gears put in at the same time. I'll be taking a drive up to Sacramento, CA and have Comptech themselvs install 4.77's plus their Reinforced diff housing. I just wasn't sure if I'd need a LSD as well. Looks like I should be ok, since I only drag race occainally and don't plan to go FI. Maybe if anything a small shot of N20, once my gears, and housing are all set and done. Thanks again for all the quick responses

 

They will treat you very well up there. I've met a few of the individuals up there and have had many conversations with others up there. One good thing about Comptech is what they do as a primary business: building race car engines for CART/IRL. The "side-business" is a self-sustaining business that develops and creates parts for Honda/Acura cars. Just quite nice to know that if someone is developing a part and they have a technical question, they'll go around the shop and ask another engineer.

 

hey raw
I answered ya over here. I did see it over there but I figured you were already covered. My S run a bit of autox and nopi a couple times a year on the drag strip.

I still think having 444's relieves stress ahead of the gearset which may take some stress off the front of the housing. I'd like to here some thoughts on that..

fltsfshr

 

First off, Rylan and Dave aren't just running big wheels, they're running VERY sticky tires. That's more important than running big heavy wheels as the grip adds the stress on the power-train when there is shock. While both weight and grip contribute to added stresses, they both got a good amount of track miles out of their diff's before they went.

Second, the comptech housing is overrated in my opinion. It's a stock housing with machined bearing caps, that's it. If it works, that's great. However, most people take it down a notch after damaging the diff the first time, that's why you rarely hear about someone damaging 2 differential assemblies.

As already mentioned, the ATS carbon diff is VERY nice. It's quiet and works well with smooth initial torque, it's not too aggressive to daily drive and works very well at the track. Changing diff fluid out every 5k miles isn't too bad. A bottle of Mobil1 gear oil isn't too expensive and works with the ATS diff, you don't need special ATS gear oil.

Don't use the Redline gear oil (shockproof) if you daily drive the car. My mechanic found it to be sub-par on the internals if not replaced frequently, it can create elevated diff temps if that stuff is kept in there too long.

The weak point in the diff hasn't been determined. Some say it's a weak housing design, other say material composition in the pinion gear. As far as the changes with the '04 and '03-below, all that's changed is the yoke flange. That's it from what I can tell. If honda used a new casting material, I doubt it. To confirm, someone would need to pony up their '03 below housing + a '04 housing and send it to a metallurgist to confirm.

 

RS-R is using the Comptech diff housing in their drift S2K. Check at the bottom of this article in the propulsion section.

http://hondatuningmagazine.com...onda/

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kenso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">RS-R is using the Comptech diff housing in their drift S2K. Check at the bottom of this article in the propulsion section.

http://hondatuningmagazine.com...onda/</TD></TR></TABLE>

what is that suppose to mean?