I figured I would share my experience, in the event someone is looking to run the same setup.

I have a 1996 Acura Integra GS-R (DC2) running the stock B18C1 engine and a B16b JDM Type R transmission. In order to run a wider set of front wheels, I need to run a spacer. Unfortunately, I don't have enough thread on the studs for me to feel comfortable adding the spacer I need. So, I decided to run ARP wheel studs (part 100-7711). I didn't want to cut up my stock knuckles, and I heard that some of the DuraGo hubs (what's currently on the car and the only cheap hubs available for the DC2) come with wildly different stud knurl sizes. So, to avoid the hassle, I would just pick up the Karcepts 36mm hubs, thinking if nothing else, it would be an upgrade for the future.

Along with the Karcepts 36mm hubs, I also ordered the Karcepts B-series transmission spacer, Timken wheel bearings and cheap RockAuto (Trakmotive) 36mm axles (for a 2002-2006 Acura RSX TYpe S) and installed them yesterday. It's been a while and I had forgotten how much of a pain in the neck this is. Notes:-Karcepts sends you 2 shims with the kit, saying in some rare occasions, the axle will hit the knuckle and seize. On the left side, yep, it seized when trying to tighten the axle nut (Karcepts recommends 220 ft-lbs of torque for the new 36mm axles). No big deal. Just remove it and put the shim on. Good to go. I'm not sure if this would have happened with OEM axles, but seeing as most of the OEM axles are seemingly discontinued, it's kind of a moot point. Onto the right side...

-The right side turned into a nightmare... popped the axle in, sure enough, it seized against the knuckle, just like the left side... ok, I'll throw a shim on (they only supply you with 2)... nope, still seized. I'm out of shims. I drove down to Ace Hardware, who luckily, had the exact shims Karcepts sent out. Hooray! 2 shims and it's no longer seized. Sweet. I'm having a problem getting the right axle to turn freely with the wheels off and suspension at full droop ... I can't see anything it's getting hung up on, but the angle of the axle looks pretty sharp... like a dummy, I turn the car on while on jack stands, thinking I'll row through a gear to see if anything sticks out... As I start to go into gear, the car (right side) has a massive vibration and loud noise... I instinctively go to press on the brakes out of habit- completely forgetting they're not connected. Sigh. I'm hoping I didn't damage the caliper(s) from touching the brakes with no pads to press down on...

I'm completely stumped at that point. I put a jack underneath the right side lower control arm, out of morbid curiosity, to see what would happen if I made the axle level... when the axle becomes level, all noise and vibration goes away completely and the axle spins smoothly with ease... was it the angle?

I take a closer look at the inside of the right axle, where it connects to the transmission... for the life of me, I can't get the axle to fully seat in the transmission. It's about 5mm away from the large plate on the axle from touching the transmission like stock. However, Karcepts did send me a ~5mm spacer (they're like an extra $30 and needed for a B-series transmission) to put on the inner end of the axle, to avoid leaks... maybe it's not supposed to be flush with the transmission due to the spacer? I have no idea and Karcepts didn't send any instructions for that specifically (which is odd, as they're usually extremely thorough). The wheel is engaging/getting power. The axle is spinning without issue... but it's not flush. I'll write Karcepts to see if there's maybe something I'm missing.

-I now have a slow transmission fluid leak from the right/passenger side of the car. Not sure if I potentially damaged the seal during install, or if there's something internal from the axle. For the record, I installed brand new axle seals ~6 months ago when I put in the B16b transmission and they've never leaked a drop until now.


So, I go to drive the car... I notice at low speeds (~5mph or under) when braking the car is now making a clunking noise... FML. It sounds more or less like it's coming from the right side. I'm not sure if I damaged the caliper from pressing the brakes with nothing to squeeze... or if one of the pads isn't seated right (the calipers did fight me more than normal)... or if the springy brake hardware got bent up (at least one of them did seem loose)... or if I scuffed up the rotors/pads (no comment)... or if it has something to do with the axle... or if I somehow damaged one of the ball joints (they all seemed fine and came loose without much effort with a ball joint separator)... I have no idea. All I know is that between wrenching and making 2 trips to the store, I worked on this stupid project from 8am until 5pm yesterday and then called it a night.

Beyond the clunking when coming to a stop, the car seemingly drives fine. I'll probably get to troubleshooting when I'm no longer seeing red.

Needless to say: I wouldn't recommend this swap to anyone running a B-series engine. It seemed like a good idea at the time. In hindsight, I would have just found some OEM hubs for this and continued using my stock axles.

For what it's worth, the smaller stock 32mm axles are about 1.8 lbs lighter per side vs the 36mm axles as per my cheap bathroom scale.

Side note: when I removed the old hubs that were on the car (DuraGo), I knocked out a stud and measured it: it measured at 0.4810"... ARP says their Honda studs (110-7711) are 0.485"... I'm pretty confident that the ARP studs would have worked just fine in the cheap DuraGo hubs. For reference the DuraGo hubs were marked as part number TA95067. I'm pretty sure on RockAuto's site they were listed as part number 29595067 for my DC2 Integra.

Just figured I would share my experience for anyone wanting to run the 36mm hubs on a B-series car. YMMV.







I haven't gotten around the installing the new brake lines, rotors and pads yet. When I install them, I'll update this thread to see if that resolved my clunking problem.

 

For reference, when I ordered these, I knew that without cutting up my stock knuckles, I would have to swap out the bearings and it was a good idea to run new hubs. I figured if I was going to pick up new hubs, I might as well run the Karcepts hubs since they're supposedly pretty durable and I track my car (building it for NASA TT6).

When I started looking into it, I found the DC2 folks (and folks with the larger brakes on the later Civics) didn't have many options for hubs:

-OEM hubs. They expensive and getting harder and harder to find.
-DuraGo hubs. They're dirt cheap and the only hubs listed for the DC2 on RockAuto. Based on the previous thread, it was unclear if their stud knurl sizing was the same as OEM (it appears to differ based on application or some unknown factor).
-Apparently you can order the SKF "kit", which includes a hub, wheel bearing, axle nut and bearing clip. It's a bit more expensive than the DuraGo hubs ($155.79 for the kit, vs $17.59 for the DuraGo hubs only). I have no idea if their quality is any better than DuraGo's.
-Karcepts 36mm hubs. These require an axle swap. For a B-Series, they also require Karcepts $30 B-series spacer. They're not cheap, but supposedly hold up well to track abuse.

I'm mostly sharing what I found to help someone looking for options in the future.

 

I just noticed today that in my effort to get the right side axle fully seated (I'm not convinced it will fully seat), I banged on it with a piece of wood and a mallet... it never went in any further, but after driving it around for a bit, I noticed I did tear the inner boot.

Because I have a leak where the axle seal is, I have to remove the axle anyway to inspect and potentially replace the seal, so I figured I would just order a new cheap RockAuto Axle. I would order new OEM, but they're discontinued and I don't know if I trust 20 year old removed axles off of Ebay. Last time I went with Trakmotive (I know nothing about them, only that they're "hearted" on RockAuto). This time, I ordered APWI.
When looking at the photos, the outer mount appears to have a slightly different, more tapered mounting area (vs the Trakmotives).

Here are the Trakmotive axles:



By contrast, here are the APWI axles:



And for further reference, here are a set of used OEM axles:



Just looking at the Trakmotive axle, it would appear the mating surface is seemingly a bit more broad. Maybe that would explain why I needed 2 shims (~1mm each) to get them to not seize onto the face of the knuckle. When I put in the APWI axle, I'll report if it seizes against the knuckle or not. I have a sneaking suspicion that I might not have to run a shim at all. I'll be sure to report my findings for anyone interested in running the Karcepts 36mm hubs on a B-series.

 

very intresting hope it work out

 

I reached out to Karcepts regarding their 36mm hubs being used with B-series transmissions. To avoid too much clutter, I'll simply post the most pertinent parts of that conversation:

My initial questions:

1. My stock 32mm right/passenger side axle was essentially flush against the transmission… when I installed the new 36mm axle (cheap aftermarket axle), I couldn’t get it to seat flush against the transmission. The flat part of the inner axle is about 5mm or so away the transmission. It still engages, I can drive the car, seemingly without issue… but I’m just wondering if that’s normal? Is the new axle supposed to stick out further away from the transmission than stock?

2. When installing the new 36mm left side axle I had to use one of the supplied shims to keep the axle from binding against the knuckle- no worries. On the right side, I found that 1 shim wasn’t enough- I ended up making a trip to Ace Hardware and picking up nearly identical shims as sent and had to use 2 of them to keep the axle from binding. Admittedly, I was using cheap aftermarket axles for a 2002-2006 RSX Type S. Will the additional shim adding an additional 1mm of length potentially cause any problems?

Karcepts Initial Response:

1. That 5mm gap is what is taken up by our B-series spacer, so that will be resolved.

2. On the aftermarket axles, sometimes they will add dust seals on the outer joint, and most are easily removable.. they may be a metal or rubber ring. If you can bang those off, that may help you to not have to run the shims. It is more ideal to clearance the axles or knuckles and not run the shims if you don't have to.

My Follow-up question:

1. Just for clarification, are you saying it’s normal for the large flat portion of the right/passenger side axle to be about 5mm or so away from the transmission (the stock axle was essentially flush against the transmission when fully seated)? Am I understanding that the gap is caused by the B-series spacer? I just want to make sure it’s supposed to be like that before I start tracking the car haha!

Karcepts Follow-up Response:

1. Yes, the K series trans input is 5mm longer than the B, that is what you would observe. The B series spacer is 5mm thick with an o-ring to take up the gap. A lot of times it works fine w/o our o-ring and spacer as well.


I'm only posting this in the event someone finds this thread in the future while trying to run 36mm hubs. Happy hunting!

 

To be clear, this is the distance I'm getting between the right/passenger side axle and the transmission:




I still can't figure out what in the world that clunking noise is. I made a video of the clunking I'm talking about:

Notes about the noise: -It only occurs when braking, typically only when pressing the pedal (maybe even borderline releasing a bit?) very lightly, at very low speed (around ~5mph or less).

-It does not occur when accelerating or turning and I also don't hear anything when braking from higher speeds.

-I'm using the same brake pads and rotors that were on the car before- I never had an issue before. Admittedly, when I took everything apart, I noticed the inner brake pad shims were disintegrated (Hawk HP+, likely from the last track day I ran).

-Admittedly, while installing the new 36mm hubs/axles, while the car was in the air, I turned on the car and ran it through a gear to make sure nothing was binding... when I heard a noise/vibration on the right side, I instinctively pressed the brake pedal, even though the calipers weren't connected, like an idiot. I was able to use a C-clamp to press the caliper back in and the car is braking just fine, but I'm not sure if this might be related.

-When shaking the front wheels (while off the ground), they feel tight. All ball joints (upper, lower and tie-rod) are less than a year old. I can try to add some grease to a couple of them with zerks fittings on them (a bit squeezed out upon removal), but I'm not convinced that is my problem. All ball joints came loose fairly easily with a ball joint separator tool. I did have to fully remove the knuckles to get the hubs out, so all ball joints were loosened and tightened.

-I can double check that everything is torqued down properly, but I'm 99% sure I torqued everything to factory spec and figured I would be hearing noise at speed if I didn't.
-I had to use 2 shims on the right/passenger side and 1 shim on the left/driver side in order to get the axles to not seize against the knuckles. I'm going to try removing the dust caps/clearance the axles as suggested by Karcepts to see if I can get the axles to spin without shims.

 

I had some time to do some troubleshooting over the last couple days:

-All caliper springs/shims (abutment clips) are accounted for. I can't move the brake pads with my fingers while the caliper is bolted in place. That doesn't necessarily mean much, as I'm sure my fingers don't generate the force of the caliper.

-Turning the steering wheel full lock in either direction doesn't seem to produce any noise at all.

-I didn't check every nut & bolt with a torque wrench, but all seemed hand tight. I checked a few with a different torque wrench and they were pretty close, close enough I don't think it would matter.

-This noise ONLY appears while braking. I haven't heard it while accelerating or turning at speed. It doesn't seem to matter if the wheels are pointed straight or turning. It doesn't seem to matter if there's a grade or flat ground. And I can only hear it at very low speeds.

-Shaking the wheel unloaded, I don't feel any play, up/down or left/right.

-I re-greased the outer tie rod ball joint, it didn't seem to make a difference.

-The lower ball joints look very flat- they could use some grease for sure... I'm not sure if them needing grease would cause this noise? They do have ports for a zerks fitting, but unfortunately, I have to remove the axles to get to them... it looks like most of the grease came out of them when I separated them from the lower control arm, but they otherwise feel stiff/solid and I don't see any tears (they're less than a year old). I'll grease them up when I remove the axles.

-I took apart and reassembled the brakes, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary.

-The noise seems to be coming from the right/passenger side, but it's hard to tell (almost sounds like the center?)

-Because I had to use those shims, the ABS ring isn't perfectly centered below the ABS sensor, more specifically on the right/passenger side where I had to use 2 shims. I don't think the ABS would be that loud would it?

-I bled the 2 front calipers, thinking maybe air got in them somehow when I pressed the brakes with unloaded calipers... nothing changed.

-I greased the caliper pins... nada.

-I removed the dust shields, thinking maybe they were tapping something... no change at all.

It could be the caliper bracket shims- 1 or 2 are just a tad loose, but I'm not betting on it.


I have no idea what in the world this is. It could be the axle, as it's likely too long (shimmed out of spec), I just don't understand why the noise is only during braking... and it almost sounds like it's coming from the middle of the car, but I truly can't tell.

If this is somehow axle related, if anyone is looking to run the Karcepts 36mm hubs on a B-series car, I implore you to seek another solution. Their lack of fitment notes is astounding:

-Nothing in their instructions about the axle sticking out of the transmission by several extra mm- meanwhile I'm banging away at it, trying to fully seat the damn thing.
-Nothing about how the shims they send you should only be used as a last resort and you should try to clearance the axles/remove the shielding before using them.
-Absolutely nothing about if you try to spin the wheels unloaded, the right side vibrates like crazy and feels like it's going to fly off.
-The OEM B-series right side axle is listed as being 23.5"... the LH RSX-S axle (that goes on the RH side of a DC2) is 24.57". I don't know much about axle lengths, but an extra inch seems like a lot.

Had I known about any of these issues beforehand, I absolutely never would have bothered with these stupid things. They may work just fine on a K swapped car, but on my setup, this is absolute rubbish! Having been a long-time Karcepts fan, I'm disappointed to say the least.

I'm hoping that by banging on the right axle, trying to seat it further into the transmission, I didn't somehow cause this issue... to be clear, this might not be axle related, but at this point, I remain skeptical.

 

I pulled the axles today... I have a potential theory:

1. I should have mentioned something: when I installed them the first time, I only used 1 shim on the left/driver side, whereas I had to use 2 shims on the right/passenger side. When I put the axle nuts on, I torqued them down to spec, but before staking them down, I took the car around the block to see if it drove ok. When I came back, I double checked the torque (220 ft-lbs) before staking the axle nuts... on the left/driver side, the axle nut didn't move in the least... on the right/passenger side, it actually did require a bit of extra torque. The shims should be pressed up against the bearing/axle, but it makes me wonder if having 2 shims causes them to squirm around just a bit, as the shims are not a remotely tight fit on the axle.

All of the lug studs were tight/fully installed.

The axle on the left/passenger side stuck out past the nut by about 1mm... on the right/passenger side, the axle nut was roughly flush with the axle (likely due to the extra 1mm shim used). The whole nut appeared to be threaded, so I'm assuming there was enough thread to torque it down? But maybe that was an issue?

Karcepts was right about some aftermarket axles having metal/rubber dust covers on them. If only they would have included that in their instructions... there's certainly a possibility that removing the dust shield could have negated the need for the shims. At this point, I don't care, I don't want to keep pulling things apart and putting them back together- I'm going back to a 32mm setup (SKF hubs and bearings are on their way). But, for anyone that finds this in the future, remove the dust shields from the axles:





I sat the axles next to each other... I know Karcepts says they will work... but there's about an inch difference in their total length.

Left/driver's side (technically the "right" side for an RSX-S):




Right/passenger side (technically the "left" side for an RSX-S):




Compared using the Karcepts B-series spacer (right/passenger side):





Without the Karcepts spacer (holding it in my hand):




I'm sure these will "work", but given the disparity in length (especially noticeable on the right/passenger side), I'm going to pass. I'm wondering if the extra length also contributed to the binding/noise on the right/passenger side at full droop. Either way, I might go back to this setup if I ever K-swap the car, but for a B-series making ~160whp, I'm going back to the stock 32mm setup. Unless you're boosted and making big power, I wouldn't recommend this setup on a B-series car.

 

Well, I went back to the smaller 32mm setup. I used SKF hubs, which accept the OEM Honda sized ARP studs without an issue.

This has been a pretty substantial waste of time, effort and money, but I suppose that's how we learn.

I haven't tightened everything up and put it on the ground yet, but with the car suspended in the air, going through the gears no longer produces a monumental vibration/noise, so that's a plus. I'm feeling pretty confident that it was something to do with the extra length of the RSX-S axles, but I suppose I'll never know (I don't plan on putting them back on anytime soon).

 

Did you swap the inner joints on the Type S axles like it says to do on their product page?


I have a set of these 36mm hubs on the shelf as part of my k swap project for my EK, hoping my fitment goes better.

 

I think I'd start by trying to keep your B-series axles and swap the outer joint for a CR-V one. You can source brand new outer joint assemblies, pack them with good quality grease (Redline CV, Amsoil Race, Neo, or Kluber [$$$]), boot with TPE boots, and send it.

Outer joints are incredibly easy to swap. You just need a vise to hold the shaft and a brass hammer to tap them off.