hardened '88-91 Civic hubs - Si vs. EX ...

[cursED]

This is specifically regarding the front hubs. After searching here, and talking with my local Honda dealer, for all I can see the hubs for the 90-91 EX 4dr. are the oddball: 1990 Si hub: 44600-SH1-A00 1990 EX hub: 44600-SH4-A50 bearing (same): 44300-SB2-963 The dealer can only special order the hubs. - I decided to email Tom Blaney http://www.sbmsinc.com/race_shop.html to find out whether I could order hubs for this oddball EX. His response (edited): 'Yes, I do sell the hubs that will fit your EX. The hubs are all the same for that series of cars.' - So here I am not sure. He also sent me another message stating the price had increased, and is now $380 per set. So, does anyone know for sure if the EX hubs are physically different from the others, and are hardened hubs really worth this much (plus the cost of new bearings and installation)? Any help is greatly appreciated.

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[CRX Lee]

Are you not mixing two different things? I have run hardened hubs on my racecars in the past and the price mentioned seemed appropriate. My understanding is that this is not the EX hub from the dealer thoug. The EX cars were the ones that came with the 14 inch wheels and the bigger brakes like what the 90-93 Integra had. These are popular for upgrading to bigger but still Honda brakes (I have them on my '89 CRX-ZC street car).

Maybe I am the one who has missed something but the hardened hubs for a race Civic/CRX are not the same as the OE hub from the bigger braked Civic.

[Tom Blaney]

As mentioned in my e-mail, the price increase was driven by honda directly. I checked with my dealer and he indicated that are the same. If you are not sure, and you indicated that the bearing numbers are the same, than the only other dimensions would be the outer dia. of the hub, the lug spacing and the dia. of the center radius for the rim alignment. You can measure those by taking off the wheel.

If you are not sure then give me an exact part number of the hubs, I will order them and send them to my hardening service. No fuss no muss, and you won't be wondering if I sold you the right stuff.

Fair enough?

Tom Blaney

[cursED]

Here again are the different part numbers for the front hubs (confirmed):

1990 EX hub: 44600-SH4-A50

1990 Si hub: 44600-SH1-A00

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Originally Posted by CRX Lee

... the hardened hubs for a race Civic/CRX are not the same as the OE hub from the bigger braked Civic.

I wanted to verify the EX front hubs were different from the other '90-91 Civics. I think this answers my question.

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Originally Posted by Tom Blaney

If you are not sure then give me an exact part number of the hubs, I will order them and send them to my hardening service. No fuss no muss, and you won't be wondering if I sold you the right stuff.

That sounds good to me, Tom. Price is really just a secondary concern here.
I talked to a friend (who also works at a dealership), and he confirms that the EX front hubs are indeed different - rears are the same though. The brakes will not line up if the the incorrect hub is used.
I think I will see about sending you the front hubs, and have you take it from there - I will send you another email to work out the details with you.

Thank you both for your help!

[Austin]

The fronts are indeed different...I have a '90 CRX Si, and just received in a set of the '90-91 4 door EX front hubs, I will be installing a set of '92-96 Prelude 11.1" rotors that have been redrilled to the 4X100 pattern with ITR calipers...so I know that they're different, I've been doing a lot of researching lately

Austin

[CRX Lee]

Originally Posted by milk

I wanted to verify the EX front hubs were different from the other '90-91 Civics. I think this answers my question.

Don't take my statement as gospel although I do own both sets of brakes. The preface to my comment that you quoted was:

"Maybe I am the one who has missed something but ..."

I do think they are different but cannot commit this as verified truth. The different part number also leads one to believe the parts are different but they can be different names for the same part.

[jisu009]

I just ran into this last week....

The Hubs ARE indeed different. My machine shop had both hubs out and confirmed that they are different. I will ask on the specifics tonight....

[Tom Blaney]

Guys, just so nobody thinks I was trying to beat Milk, I relied on what my parts guy told me, apparently he was wrong or I gave him wrong information. Regardless I have agreed to have Milk send me hubs he bought and I will send them to my heat treater with the new batch of hubs for the 88-91 CRX.

I am trying to make a little profit for my troubles

[cursED]

Originally Posted by Tom Blaney

I am trying to make a little profit for my troubles...

I expect you to, Tom. I appreciate you helping me out. As for the hubs, I was a little thrown off by your first email response to me, and I wanted to make sure I was getting the right part - it seems many had the same questions I did about the difference between the 'EX' hubs and the rest of the ('88-91 Civic) series.
I don't want anyone to think I was calling Tom out on this one. Just so everyone knows, Tom's email responses from the time of my first inquiry have been professional and without delay.

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Originally Posted by jisu009

My machine shop had both hubs out and confirmed that they are different. I will ask on the specifics tonight....

Thanks, jisu. Posts up if you do get some specific measurements...

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Originally Posted by CRX Lee

Don't take my statement as gospel although I do own both sets of brakes. The preface to my comment that you quoted was:

"Maybe I am the one who has missed something but ..."

I do think they are different but cannot commit this as verified truth. The different part number also leads one to believe the parts are different but they can be different names for the same part.

No problem, Lee. The post you made corroborated with responses I got from other people and companies, many after my first post in this thread. I have searched this site extensively, and found it hard to come by a definitive answer. It will be interesting to see what the physical differences are between the hubs.