i have googled.. and googled.. i see things that say front.. but further looking shows (placement rear)..

Dura Int'L 295 12172 Front Wheel Bearing Hub Assy Axle Bearing Hub Assembly | eBay

 

It is a mystery why you cannot find the front hubs, certainly when you do the 4 to 5 lug bolt conversion using the Odyssey hubs you will find the same thing, no one just sells the hubs (they take a 36 mm nut on the axle, which of course means the shaft is thicker and so is the hub). In any case the only thing that has to be changed is the bearing which takes 4 bolts and is installed from the rear of the knuckle (if you notice when you look for hubs for the front, the only thing you will find is this bearing). I guess if you look at the manual for the Acura CL, and compare it to the manual for the Honda you can see what differences there may be. The hat part of the rotor, and of course the hub bolts are longer, and the reason for this is because the rotor now goes over the hub, the bolts themselves are now going through both the rotor and also the wheel, while with the old hub over rotor the hub is bolted over the rotor, then the hub bolts only have to go through the wheel (which means you use shorter lug bolts), in any case the rotors are not interchangeable, and are specific to the hub used....

 

In looking at my manual it looks as if both the I4 and V6 both use the same axle shaft and nut up front, it is only in the rear where the difference is apparent, with the V6 using a different stub axle and nut (36 mm vs 32 mm for the I4), but that is another can of worms. I would say if you really want to use the CL hub and rotors you might think of buying used knuckles and take them apart just to get the hubs, but if you ever want to got to a 5 bolt pattern you have to think of the Odyssey knuckles since you will run into the same problem not being able to find just new hubs (the bearing should be the same for both), by the way the hub in this instance is pressed into the bearing and held on by the axle nut,,,,

 

Go to car-parts.com and you should be able to find the hubs for the conversion. I have converted many sets like this. I even have an extra pair.

 

Seems like anyone who changes their front rotors during a brake job should do this ... the swapout is ridiculously simple and the parts cost is minimal ... you could probably even reuse your old bearings if you wanted to minimize costs (but I wouldn't).

I am curious as to why Honda would have designed captive rotors in the first place.

 

Agreed

I have the answer to this....

I worked as a service advisor for a Honda starting in 1986. One of our biggest complaints that customers had was brake vibration. We were replacing rotors under warranty several times a week. This was a huge warranty hit for Honda.

The prevailing theory that Honda had as a reason for the brake vibration was that the hub over rotor configuration, where the lug nuts held the rotor on was the cause of the brake vibration concerns. They felt that inconsistent tightening of the lug nuts cause the rotor to warp slightly causing the vibration. Their answer was to put the rotor on the back side of the hub starting in 1990 on the Accord, their heaviest model.

I had my doubts, but indeed we had less complaints on brake vibration after that. I too have been very careful on my personal vehicles and I torque the fronts when I R&R the wheel. Does it really help? Dunno, but I will say I don't have brake vibration issues.

That was the "official" line....

 

Wow... Some places want $100 for a used one, some as cheap as $65. I would take one (or 4) for $65, at $100, I would go new, only $30 more...

Thanks for the site tip though... I had not heard of them before.

 

No problem!