SheDrivesIt

I've got a MY 2004 with about 130K miles that is experiencing noticeable vibration on moderate to heavy acceleration that I am pretty sure is CV joint cup wear.

I've seen a fair amount of posting on this issue and I am aware of the CV cup swap but it does seem to look fairly involved for an old arthritic guy like me (crawling around on the floor yesterday disassembling my doors and replacing burnt out tweeters kicked my ass but I got it done). Installing split half shaft spacers seems like a lot less work but more expensive than the cup swap.

Can these be added to an S2K on stock suspension? My understanding is that the spacers will move the bearings 10mm or so deeper into the cup. Could I run into an issue with the joint bottoming out inside the cup? I did notice that the J's Racing 1 piece spacers had some statement about them being for cars lowered 30mm or more and not being used at stock height. Can anyone share more insight on that?

I see that split spacer sets range from about $75 to about $185. Are they all about the same thickness? If I can use them, any recommendation on which ones? Should I buy a more expensive set like EVS Tuning or T1R or a less expensive set like Megan or Blox. I figure quality of hardware in important so I could always source some grade 10.9 plated flange bolts (M10?) and grade 10 flange nuts from someplace like McMaster-Carr so I know I am getting quality hardware. Anyone know the under head length required?

Slowcrash_101

Spacers are a bandaid fix. You have to replace the Honda grease. Since you have to replace the grease, may as well swap the cups.

If you don't mind using new axle nuts, I would just pull the nuts and remove the axle shafts from the car. It makes it so much easier to work with. You can stand up the shafts and not worry about dropping bearings, or making a greasy mess.

Mobil 1 synthetic grease is the way to go. Calcium sulfonate grease like Red Line CV2 is not compatible with some other greases so you have to be very careful removing the old grease. Lithium complex doesn't care, its compatible with the polyurea stuff Honda uses.

SheDrivesIt

That is not a job that I will be doing (not without some significant help). One thing that I have not seen is the answer to "what grease does Honda use?" When removing the axle shafts, isn't there still a suspension joint to separate?

Also, while I appreciate the input, Slowcrash, I still have all of my questions on the spacers. I'm sure no repair is permanent. Hell the surface the bearings are running on now lasted 16 years and 130K miles. Are you saying that the damage is because the grease is toast?

Thanks for Helping,
Mark

B serious

The issue with running them at stock height is that you may see them "bind" if the suspension is allowed to fully droop.

I didn't see this issue at stock height...but...that doesn't mean you won't.

Try it and see if it works. Megan or Blox is fine. And yes, you can buy class M10x1.25 10.9 hardware from Belmetric or Mcmaster. I *think* the stock underhead length is 24mm. So...add the spacer thickness for your bolts you plan to order.

engifineer

I have trashed 3 axle cups, one on whatever grease was in them and 2 with Redline (Which at one point was the magic grease that would prevent this according to some). So I am still not convinced any one grease is going to stop this from happening. Twice was immediately after a very hard autox launch, but people swear that does not cause it either and that it is all about the grease. So there are lots of opinions here about this. But putting new grease in should certainly be better than leaving the old stuff in there.

But I get you on the work. If you are not feeling up to crawling around under it and swapping buckets that way, it is more work (but less messy) to do it by pulling the axle. Whether pulling the axle or doing it under the car, you have to at least pop the lower balljoint loose to get the cup out of the diff far enough. So yes, you do have to do that, but does not mess up your alignment to do it. But again, you did not want to do that I know.

I have not run the spacers and those I know that have all had lowered cars. As BSerious stated, it may work fine but you will need to test it to be sure. But, the spacers are easy to do and not terribly costly, so if doing the cup swap is a big no for now then you are not losing that much by trying the spacers. Could probably sell them easily if they do not work out. You will need to fix the issue one way or the other so you may as well try that if you are avoiding doing the cup swap. Overall though, doing that (or having someone do it) and cleaning out the old grease (and possibly part of the metal if it chipped out like mine did) and repacking is the best bet to fix them.

But one question, wouldnt the binding happen at full compression, not full droop? I am thinking the axles are angled down at ride height, so compressing the suspension would push the bearings further into the cup and full droop would pull them further out, unless I am remembering the angle wrong. I am not near the car or would check.

B serious

The axles stretch out as the suspension compresses...that's why they recommend spacing them for lowered cars.

Car Analogy

Another option. Buy used axles, swap the cups and redo the grease, all on a benchat your own pace. Repaint them even.

Then bring them to a shop to install. Make sure they know how to torque the axle nut (involves torquing to like 250 lb/ft, then tighten a further 60 degrees).

This avoids buying new oem axles (hella $$$), as well as aftermarket axles (which are all junk and will cause nasty vibes), and avoids the mega $$ a shop would want for labor to swap cups and regrease.

You do the time consuming part shop doesn't want to do, shop does the stuff underneath you don't wanna do.

At the end sell your old axles, probably for what you paid for the used ones you bought, so its a wash.

As for the grease, our axles use a tripod bearing. Almost everyone uses an NLGI #2 grease when they swap the cups. This is too thick. NLGI #2 is for traditional cv, not for a tripod with bearings. The correct greaseis an NLGI #1.

These are not easy to find, and can be very expensive. Amsoil has some NLGI #1 greases, and they're cheap. They are made for truck and offroad applications, but they aretbe correct weight. They contain a lithium stabilizer, which isn't ideal for the tripod bearings. But the bearings aren't the problem, the cups are. The bearings are also common, and you can always buy new ones if they should wear out. The cups are unique to our cars.

These amsoil offroad greases have an additive that is especially good at dealing with impacts. Exactly what you want to prevent pitting in the cups.

I'm with enginifeer on this one (some others in other threads also concur). Redline cv2 and most everything else people commonly use here are too thick for the application.

So my recommendation is one of the synthetic NLGI #1 greases.

Billman250

This thread is filled with incorrect information, posted by almost every person. Way to much to list or correct. I may delete the whole thread, and revive a different thread with more accurate information.

B serious

...go on...

B serious

250 +60 deg is gonna snap that axle bruv...

180+60 doesn't even always work without snapping...