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Those are stackable as well but you should only need one set. If you google S2000 Axle Spacers you will find a number of options. I think most are around $80 a set
With much admiration and respect to engifineer, from your description ("the grease had mostly moved into areas where it was pushed back from movement and just stayed there") it sounds like you didn't use enough of the RL grease. I packed my cups FULL of grease; like a glass full of water (or grease, lol) there is no way for any particular part of the grease to be "moved" or "pushed" away without necessarily being replaced by other grease.
I'm not sure how full the cups are packed at the factory, but from my recollection and most pictures I've seen, the cups were not truly FULL. Perhaps the culprit in all of this is not the quality of grease, but the quantity.
With much admiration and respect to engifineer, from your description ("the grease had mostly moved into areas where it was pushed back from movement and just stayed there") it sounds like you didn't use enough of the RL grease. I packed my cups FULL of grease; like a glass full of water (or grease, lol) there is no way for any particular part of the grease to be "moved" or "pushed" away without necessarily being replaced by other grease.
I'm not sure how full the cups are packed at the factory, but from my recollection and most pictures I've seen, the cups were not truly FULL. Perhaps the culprit in all of this is not the quality of grease, but the quantity.
Honda specs 5.3 - 5.6 oz of grease per side per the shop manual. I used as close to that amount as possible, probably closer to 6 oz or a tad more since I was just eyballing a little less than half a tube (14 oz tube).
The issue with overpacking them is that you basically have a semi sealed pocket in there of air and grease. Air compresses, grease does not so much. If you over pack them enough, you can just cause grease to get forced out of the boot. In extreme cases it can blow the boot off the joint and sling grease all over the place, including on the exhaust
So if anything, I added more grease than specified by Honda. There was grease all over in there, but the redline, when pushed back and forth by motion of the joint, appeared to kinda just stay where it was pushed rather than flowing back around the joint. Was this enough to cause damage? No clue, as there is still a film of it between the bearings and the cup of course and there was a coating of grease all over. My point was that while the redline looked great because it was thicker, it also did not appear to move around in the joint as freely.
Too much grease will blow out the boot. Use a measuring device, you witch doctor scientists!
I use a food scale and put the tub of grease on it. When the tub weighs 5.x ounces less...the joint is full.
I fill virtually the entire volume into the cup side. that way, the grease for sure has to "submerge" all the moving parts.
In my experience...
Highway (road trip) driving with a lowered car accelerates the wear. Lots of heat. Constant pressure. Lots of bearing travel due to the big axle angle. More axle revolutions per minute (higher wheel speed).
A lot of Honda/Acura axles I've opened (I've rebuilt a LOT) have oil/thickener seperation with the OEM grease.
Also...AP1 grease is mustard yellow. AP2 (and other late model honda/acuras) have a greenish grease. Idk what this means. All 00-14 Hondas seem to have pitting issues. Not sure why.
Just did an AP1 AND AP2 rebuild this last weekend... AP1 grease on top. AP2 is the lower layer. FWIW, the AP1 is a JDM axle.
04+ TSX's also have the greenish grease.
Last edited by B serious; Sep 9, 2020 at 12:53 PM.
Too much grease will blow out the boot. Use a measuring device, you witch doctor scientists!
Good note. Yeah I didn't fill the boots of course so there's still plenty of air in there, but I did use half the RL tube in each cup; it *seemed* full lol. Have gone 16yrs and a few thousand track miles with no issues; it's even outlasted two diffs.
Also...AP1 grease is mustard yellow. AP2 (and other late model honda/acuras) have a greenish grease. Idk what this means. All 00-14 Hondas seem to have pitting issues. Not sure why.
My early '00 car had the green stuff (see DIY thread in sig).
Well in a sense, I am a scientist by trade/education lol. So I do try to make decisions with that mindset. And the lack of data showing Honda grease is as good as redline is not even a piece of data, it is just more assumption. The lack of having their data does not mean it is worse. A grease looking more runny also does not mean it is not protecting either. In some cases that is what you want, so the grease moves within the joint vs getting packed away from the area it is protecting. We do not know the design limits and what was needed for this particular joint, so we cannot say for sure which would be better based upon that.
And no, this was not meant to be an argument. I am pointing out that I do not see even a fraction of what one would consider "proof" of which grease works better. You state you had pitting with OEM, then did not with Redline. Mine ran 100,000 miles on OEM grease as far as I know with lots of hard autox launches, I switched to Redline and had pitting the next season. So anecdotal (aka not pointing to any sort of conclusion) at best on both of our accounts.
So while I think redline grease is fine and am happy using it, there simply is not enough data (And with the mileage on these cars there never will be) to say which was "better" with certainty so I am not going to tell people they should switch to redline or not to. I honestly think the many variables involved in usage, part variation, etc prevents us from drawing any real conclusion.
And to re-iterate, debating something like this should be welcomed and not considered an "argument" so to speak. The point is to get everyones input so others reading this can draw their own conclusions from it. I take no offense to you thinking redline is better at preventing this or someone thinking some other brand is better. But people reading should understand that we (enthusiasts) are a tiny fraction of car owners and many of us abuse our cars through hard use (track, autocross, etc) and so the tiny number of incidents we see on here dont add up to a reliable statistic of anything really.
there was some issue with your evidence, i believe you mentioned that you observed grey and pink grease when you took it out, indicating a mixture with old grease. mixing of different greases can be problematic, which may indicate a problem with the mixing of greases, as opposed to not receiving the benefits of the redline grease.
Because i have read doubts and misinformation elsewhere, i just want to add:
I have send a E-Mail to REDLINE about the discussion or doubts that tripods with needle bearings usually calls for a thinner, NLGI 1 grade grease. The technican from Redline how answerd me assured me that their CV2 grease is suitibale for tripods with needle bearings and not to thick.
Redline makes really high quality products, i trust them.
Use the appropriate grease for the proper joint.
There is a reason why a manufacturer like GKN recommends and uses an NLGI 1 grease for tripod joints and an NLGI 2 grease for cv joints.
Here's a little illustration to better distinguish between a cv joint and tripod joint on the S2000.
