hey guys i have a 98 crv 5 speed rt4wd love the crv so far it is my second one. first one i had was FWD and man that rt4wd makes a difference i live in NY so in the winter it is such an added bonus. anyways, ive been reading on looking to swap to a newer honda diff. keeping the duel pump system. from my research the 2nd gen crv diff/ element diff is a direct bolt on upgrade zero modification. the clutch packs have more surface area for more bite and quicker engagement. my question here is what about the 3rd gen crv..? the 3rd gen crv is labeled 4wd not rt4wd. what is the difference?? can a 3rd gen crv diff be directly swapped to a first gen crv? what are the advantages? looking for a direct swap with no mods as this is my daily driver and i dont want to start cutting and welding stuff. i take it on long road trips as well so i dont want to pin lock the diff that is in it right now. just looking for a newer honda diff that ms more bite quicker engagement and does slightly better in the snow or off road than the 98 diff does. anyone do swaps like this? i can get any rear diff for $45 from my junk yard. whats my best option??

 

here she is so far. looking to do a small lift and find an oem spoiler. other than that its staying all stock ans im calling it done with.

 

If the 2nd gen is a direct swap then the 05-06 with ramp clutch will also be a direct swap.

Did the 06 rear end into an Element to gain ramp clutch. The Element stayed with the standard 2nd gen rear end for all years of production.

I bet the 3rd gen would also fit, I have seen them side by side on the shop floor and they looked nearly identical. Now the rear end in the HR-V and 5th gen are much much smaller. Probably won't fit. They also added an electric pump.

 

whats a ramp clutch? new to rt hondas

 

Makes the rear end transfer power even faster. Set of clutches with ***** and ramps that mechanically lock up before the hydraulics can catch up. Only works in the forward direction. They also changed the ratio in those rear ends so they are under driven to increase fuel economy and bind/drag less on dry pavement.

 

alright cool, so use an element diff is a good way to do it? and i can potentially get better mpg?

 

05-06 CR-V Auto or Manual, they are both the same rear end.

I put one in my Element. The Elements used the older non ramp clutch rear end. Just as a point of reference for cross compatibility.

 

ohh alright so use the crv diff. why not the 02 to 04 crv? why just the 05 to 06? non of the elements ever came with the ramp clutch? only the 05 to 06 crv?

 

02-04 CR-V is the same rear end as all years of Element. For whatever reason Honda only updated the CR-V starting in 05. I think that rear end was then used in all of the K series CR-Vs so up to 2014(?). Crosstour also used the ramp clutch rear end.

 

If Honda changed the ratios in those rear ends, wouldn't you have to change your final drive in your trans diff to match in order to keep all the wheels running the same speed when 4wd engages?

 

Just the ratio in the rear differential is changed. And not by much, roughly 3%. They also changed the dual pump displacements. In the non ramp clutch the forward pump is 2.5% larger.

It really is not an issue, it was fully designed to have a slightly altered ratio. The SH-AWD systems over drive the rear axle by 15% but that is a COMPLETELY different system. Can not even start to compare that setup to the dual pump rear ends.

Also 97-04 CR-V use the exact same part number for the rear end unit. So the 02-04 rear end would not be an upgrade for a first gen other than lower miles. Yes at some point they changed the clutch pack design a little bit but how do you know if you have the updated clutch pack?