Couple days ago it went down... I launched the car at roughly 4-5k rpm and it went and hooked for a split sec and boom, too much force on the axle apparently. Thing viciously snapped lmao, first axle break euyhhh! I dont know if it ever been replaced at all, but there were no knocks or other symptoms that may cause fading axle.. Its just a 125hp d15 so i am pretty amazed and on a mission to get her back on the road.. The tires are 205/40R17! The left hand axle is still intact but it wont drive?

Is it common for axles to snap like this? Seems a bit over the top for a 125hp car...

 

and for replacement, do both axles need to be replaced? The left axle is quite a bit longer, is it any more sturdy?

 

The rotational force snapped it because you got 17's and way to much traction..... Whenever people drag race they have to have a weak point in the traction otherwise things will break, basically something has to give and they usually make the tires give some. In your case the size of your wheel and tire is overwhelming the drivetrain "overkill" so if you keep doing launches on them and either your axles, differential or internals on the transmission will give and break. Replace the side that is broken thats all that matters, but in the future use some common sense and you can avoid this situation again.

 

Yea now I realise that the wheels are too grippy for this setup. But it has to be able to be done right, i'm not the only one launching 205's similar situations. I'll be preloading from this point on though I'll have to play with it to get it right... But this is just a temporary setup. Bt yo tell me a bit about the weak point you are talking about? How do these people enforce a weak point

Too much traction, never thought i'd hear that lol

 

That axle is also thinned out from rust, I've seen it a few times... there used to be a rubber damper on that axle but has since rotted off and u can still see a small piece of the rubber and the clamp remaining... the axle rusts to **** under the rubber and it weakens the axle shaft
We deal with a lot of rust where we live and see this quite often on v6 accords

 

It may have corroded down into the metal. Those shafts are pencil thin which doesn't help.

If it were me, I would replace both axles. They aren't that expensive, but if money is tight, you could probably get away with just doing one side.

Why are you doing hard launches with this thing? lol
Thats a great way to snap the other side too...

 

Replace both OP

 

Yeah one side is considerably longer than the other, thats how the D-series transmissions are, they didn't have a 'midshaft' like the B or K series (which is to help control torque-steer). I will also vouch for the weakness coming from rust, fatigue, and moreso age of the axle and the fact that it was right under where the harmonic balancer rubber was, as you can clearly tell a difference in the color of the rust.
If you're gonna keep the car and drive in the rust, lots of us have run autozone's Duralast Gold line brand of axles, because they have a lifetime warranty that covers wear (so new axles every time they rust or a boot gets ripped and they start clicking).

I know the engine isnt a lot of torque but its rust. The amount rust can weaken metal can be amazing.

 

agreed with the above. back in the days of b swaps being cool, we'd snap a few axles per track night. slap a new one in, check the other side, check the trans fluid, good to go.

 

You don't need to replace both, changing on for now is fine. im sure they are suggesting change both due to the possible rust on the other axle. pre loading is fine, but with the bigger wheel your creating more weight to be rotated and yes bigger tire.

honestly unless you plan on swapping engines soon and your just trying to get some seat time in with your car, then no more hard launchs. that clutch/engine/trans wasn't designed to take the abuse

 

Thanks for the replies guys, gives me some reassurance why it snapped. It sure is rusty, but the dilemma remains with the swap. Guess i'll just swap one side for now and take it relatively easy and slip the clutch more in order to make it less dramatic on the axles! Honestly i bought the car like this, the rims has been on there. Still planning on swappign them out for 15s or 16s but need to fix a big rust spot on her first of all, and a full coilover set that'll

I'd love to use the autozone brand haha in this particular situation but im in the netherlands. The best warranty i've found on several different brand axles is a year.

This engine is pretty much torqueless hahah but thanks ya'll!! All a learning process

 

But yo thats a big hassle man. How do you go about that these days? It'll be getting hard punishment once the car is setup right I can re-assure that. I never thought of axles being a weak point of these hondas

 

once you start pushing real power with slicks and a aggressive clutch, axles love to snap. they become the weak point

 

you can buy better axles. The Driveshaft Shop | Honda - Import Axles

 

I've received a new pair of axles now its just a matter of putting them in! I'm still a bit worried though since i've never had this happen to me. Car wouldnt move, rpms would go up but no effort in driving as with the broken axle.. It made me think the clutch got fucked up since that was the first that came to mind. But is that likely?

 

come on dude. transmission side axle is broken. car has no lsd. think

 

open differential means if one axle is freely spinning the other axle recieves no power, to explain it in short. That's why you see one tire burnouts sometimes on low tier cars

 

don't try to drive the car until you replace the axles