The differential housings aren't forged, they are cast. And they would be a lot stronger is Honda would do away with the aluminum back plate and replace it with steel.

 

oh i didn't even catch that.

yup. as fperra said, the diff is cast iron. not forged.

 

Some more comparison pics:

side by side stock 02, and comptech 04

Another

stock 02

comptech 04


I ordered this housing from Ricks. comptech was out of housing cores, so I got a new one. Stratocaster informed me it was an 04 housing, but I didn't see and visual difference. I wasn't looking that hard either.

 

they look exactly the same to me.....

 

1 is all clean and the other is dirty

 

nice.

yeah i did speak the wrong term on that hehe. cast it is, yep. sowwy.

take a close look at the 2nd pic down, does it look like the pinion bearings, race seat is different,... machined for larger race? or just cleaner? that entire area looks a bit diff. man i wanna have both these pieces in my hands. either way, im gonna keep railing mine till something fails.
ill tell ya what. i ran the stock fluid till 2k miles, and it was wasted. mike and i use our cars for test beds. we just drained mikes diff (LE607) after 20,000 miles of the worst abuse on this board i gaurantee it. and the 607 looked like the new stuff in the bottle, i screened it, backlit it, magnet checked it,,,, not one shaving. i was in total shock. twilight zone. i think this also is whats keeping mine together. mine has no play, no howl, and neither does mikes.
i read a story where a guy did 6 1/4 mile track launches, and blew the diff out the back...? im like WTF?. so when i got my ap2, and was launching at 7k. everyone was in tears. that was over a year ago, no probs. so. we shall see. and i have 400hp/400tq pressure plate.
anyways. back to you guys have fun. laters dave

 

Yeah i see what you're talking about on the seating of the pinion bearings. but having seen the two next to each other in person, I think it's cuz one is used and the other is not. slows2k and his dirty diff.

yeah I've had similar experiences with the fluid, though since I got the 4.57's I have some tiny tiny metal looking shavings in my fluid. however, i'm apt to think that's probably the polydyne coating that was on the pinion/gear. so far the fluid has stayed very clean otherwise, so i'm quite happy.

yeah i've heard the stories too. it makes me wonder incredibly. a good example is johnny 2k. now he drives spiritedly with his S2000 and he's on his THIRD DIFF!!! what pisses him off though, is the fact that I beat the SHIT out of my car!!! and mine has never had an issue. lol (knock on wood). it's just so odd and leaves me scratching my head. we both have 02's. and man i 1/4 miled the crap out of my first S2000, including a 13.7 and countless 13.8/13.9 times stock. and i street raced every damn weekend i kid you not. well over 1000 launches and not a hitch.

then others have such problems. i wonder if the tolerances were so tight that with the flexing of the bearing caps, some were more prone to failure than others. ya know?

i guess they got the un-luck of the draw, but so far mine has been fine. and now that i have the comptech i'm much less worried. eventually i plan on doing the axle/cv's as well since I'm going to SC this mofo next year.

 

The clean diff housing doesn't have a pinion bearing race in it.

 

good eye. thats what we get for not paying attention. hehe.
yeah mikey has an 03, and he sidesteps his like crazy. and has a gnarly PP. and his has never made a sound.
i think alot of the ones that fail, either the people dont know what wheel hop is, they are shocking the drivetrain, or need to unload the control arm bushings, to get rid of the wheel hop.
hasta. pelon.

 

that's what i get for posting when I'm drunk.