I was at road america the past two days and had my boot tear. I was running an autozone axle on the drivers side. The car was fine for 6 25 minute sessions. I swapped in my backup axle (a brand new autozone replacement) and that didnt even last one session. The first 4 sessions were monday and the weather was hot humid and windy. The second day was much cooler and much more dry.

Ive decided to order honda boots and replace the out boots on the autozone axles.

I think this is the main problem...hit or miss. I dont think it has anything to do with alignment specs.

 

Let me know the differences in the axel boots when you get them. I am still wondering what is causing the tears. Is it the centrifugal force that is ripping them because of a substandard rubber compound or is the boot ballooning because of an inferior grease being used. I have yet to pull my wheels to get a better look at the tears but last time they were just holes that appeared like punctures. The fact they were punctures leads me to believe the grease issue. Also, if it were a rubber issue wouldn't the inner boots be tearing as well? Were your tears puncture holes or full circumferential tears?




If there is not a major difference in OEM boots I am going to replace with these axels

Honda/Acura Rally/Road Race System
This is a specially designed road/rally axle set. DSS has done extensive racetrack testing to bring you these axles. This system is designed for 300HP (not drag). What we have learned is that the parts that DSS makes for drag racing aren’t exactly the right parts for road or rally racing. The parts have to take long-term punishment of heat and stress. What DSS have done is make an axle set directly for road or rally punishment. DSS starts with the chromoly center bar, uses their oversized tripod inner housings and then get a outer CV with a single arch design cage. Factory Acura/Honda design has a dual arch design so every time you turn, the ball goes over a sort of a peak in the ball track making it fail prematurely. Then DSS takes all parts, polish and match them carefully to almost pre-break in state. The end result is smooth movement so there is no heat buildup. DSS then uses a special boot made from a material called Hytrell. This handles the heat better. They use a super high grade synthetic grease designed for the 24 hour Lemans cars. DSS also vents the boots to keep internal and external temps even. Now you can keep your car on the track without worry of parts failures.

 

I have yet to really look at the axles boots, I was in a hurry to swap it and I didnt bother to look at the second one because I packed up once I saw it. Ill be getting the Honda boot kit next week, possibly tomorrow. Ill probably work on it next week sometime.

The DDS axles are very expensive, $1000+ it seems. Id rather carry spare autozone axles with Honda boots and repack the units with high quality grease.

 

You could try sticking a gopro under the car and hit I-40 for some 80mph runs and see if the boot is ballooning. Might only happen at speeds higher than that though.

 

The race axels are the same cost as oem Honda axels and the rep guaranteed that this would be the last set I buy. Haven't pulled the trigger yet though.

 

I'd try using an infrared thermometer to see if they actually even get hot enough to take Charle's law into account.

 

Heat must be part of the problem. That's why rear bearings fail frequently. It's not too much of a stretch to think the heat transfers to the outer axel grease and boot.

 

Just a word of caution, do a search on s2ki regarding DSS axles before you make a decision. I was shopping for new axles last year when my OEM outer CV broke. Reading a couple reviews it was my conclusion that DSS has poor quality control. Fitment and reliability looked to be poor.

But don't go off of my opinion. Do your own research and see what you conclude. Just a heads up

 

I can't find too many negatives. Here are some positives. Please link some negs if u know of themThanks.
http://honda-tech.com/showthread.php....php?t=1848689

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/922...ss-custom-and/

 

Here's a few. The issues I've read are not only isolated to axles but their other product line-up such as the driveshafts.

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/916...t__p__21252166
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/922...t__p__21338295
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/894...t__p__22991441
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/871...xles-the-same/ (axles were different lengths left/right)
https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/470...ft-shop-axles/

I would stick with OEM, no reason to go aftermarket. Not like you're drag racing and pulling 600+ HP