Are the half shafts that go into the differential different from left to right?

I know the full drive shafts are different length but what about the half shafts?

And if so is there any way to see which side is which? are they branded form left to right at all?

 

Yes they are different. The driver said is shorter than the passenger side by a couple inches.

 

Yeah, must be different. Two different part numbers for left and right assemblies.

Honda Automotive Parts

 

The left is shorter than the right

 

Does anyone know if they can be installed the wrong way round? Im 100% positive i put them back exactly as they came out but im now having a couple of issues with some strange noises since i installed my 4.77 diff (second hand).

Also as a side note i have since been reading Rob Robinettes diff swap thread and he mentioned the following step: "Mark the junction of the propeller shaft and differential, and both driveshafts so you can reassemble them exactly as they were assembled at the factory. This will help keep the driveline balanced and vibration free. A little paint or even a scratch awl mark will do" I didn't do this because the differential was being swapped for a different one and i didn't know i needed to with the driveshafts so i just put it back together. So Is this step absolutely necessary? If it was i imagine the Parts would have been marked from the factory?

 

Sounds more like you got a bad used diff .....

It's been awhile but is removing the half shaft from the rear hub completely necessary to swap a diff?

 

Hmmm the guy i bought it off has a pretty good rep on here and is adamant the diff was perfect when he took it out of his car a few weeks ago.

Nope you dont need to remove them from the rear hubs, I just split them where the 6 bolts are on each shaft. (where the aftermarket halfshaft spacers go)

Im starting to think that my problem could be a carrier bearing on the Propshaft and maybe when i dropped the diff i disturbed the joint causing the noise im now hearing.

Im gunna take the prop shaft off tonite and check it for play. Apparently it is a common problem:

 

It is rare for an S2000 driveshaft to go bad. Check it while it's installed in the car for play (front to back play is normal)

You do not need to mark the driveshaft for balance reasons.

 

So i managed to get the car up in the air last night and have listen to the noise whilst the car was off the ground.

The noise definitely is coming from either inside the gear box or the end of the prop shaft that connects to the Gearbox

I took a video and its hard to hear the noise on the but if you listen each time the rev's drop you can hear the noise. you can hear it most towards the end of the video

 

Nice video. You can easily hear that rattling/grinding sound as the revs drop to their lowest amplitude/frequency.

Just my opinion, but I think that is just excessive backlash in the rear diff itself. Excessive backlash noise tends to manifest itself most when the load on the gears one way or another (accel or decel) is at its lowest. I also don't think it is a problem to be concerned about. For example, when going from a dual mass flywheel in a Toyota Supra to a single mass flywheel, you will get a lot of noise (at idle in neutral) very similar to that in your video. Now maybe this backlash is excessive or it is just the right amount needed to account for thermal expansion at high torque/power levels.

Remember the SR-71 was designed to leak fuel on the runway so it would stay together at Mach 3+ after significant thermal expansion took effect.

Anyway, this is just conjecture on my part so take it with as many grains of salt as you dare.