PRODUCT DETAILS
SpeedFactory B-Series AWD Transmission Offset Reverse Shaft
You've got a billet bellhousing, a fresh gearset, and a B-series AWD case that won't close right. The reverse idler sits where it shouldn't and the halves won't pull together. That's not a build error, it's Honda changing the reverse gear mid-production, and this stainless shaft from SpeedFactory Racing is the fix for one specific version of that problem.
What It Is and Why It Works
B-series AWD transmissions come out of the 1997-2001 Honda CR-V, and they're the foundation under most AWD B-series drag builds. Over that production run Honda used two different reverse gear ratios. The '98-'99 housings carry a 3.000 reverse, the same as a FWD B-series. The '00-'01 housings went to a 3.461 reverse, and the bigger gear needed more room.
Honda solved that twice. First with an odd offset shaft carrying a bushing on the bellhousing side, which pushed the reverse gear away from the gear stacks. Then, in later '00 production, they moved the shaft locating holes in the case itself, which meant they could go back to a plain straight shaft like the earlier boxes used.
Here's where it bites you. Every billet bellhousing currently on the market, SpeedFactory's included, is built off the PBW1 pattern. Bolt a PBW1-based billet bellhousing to a case where Honda relocated those holes and the reverse idler ends up in the wrong place. This CNC machined stainless shaft carries the offset that puts it back, keeping full tooth engagement on reverse and letting the case halves close the way they should.
Do You Actually Need This Shaft?
Read this before ordering, because it does not work the way you'd guess. The PBW1 or PBW2 stamp on your housing tells you nothing useful. What matters is the year of the outer case and which reverse shaft was actually in it when you took it apart.
| Outer case | Reverse ratio | Shaft it came with | What you need with a billet bellhousing |
| '98-'99 (PBW1) | 3.000 | Straight | Reuse the original straight shaft |
| '00 early (PBW2) | 3.461 | Offset with bushing | Honda straight shaft, PN 23261-PX5-A00 |
| '00 later (PBW2) | 3.461 | Straight | This shaft, SF-05-601-RS |
| '01 (PBW2) | 3.461 | Straight | This shaft, SF-05-601-RS |
Notice that it flips. If your '00 case came apart with an offset shaft in it, you want a straight one. If it came apart with a straight shaft, you want this offset one. That inversion is the single most common way to order the wrong part, so pull your case down and look at what's in there before you buy anything.
Specs
| Part number | SF-05-601-RS |
| Function | Reverse idler shaft, offset |
| Material | Stainless steel |
| Machining | CNC |
| Works with | FWD2AWD gearset conversions, aftermarket B-series AWD gearsets |
| Requires | PBW1-based billet bellhousing |
| Sold | One shaft |
SpeedFactory uses this shaft in its own in-house transmission builds, including assemblies running the PPG 1-4 B-AWD dog gearset, which brings its own 3.076 reverse ratio.
Fitment
| Transmission | B-series AWD, as found in the 1997-2001 Honda CR-V |
| Outer housing | Mid '00-'01 PBW2 that used a straight reverse shaft |
| Bellhousing | PBW1-based billet |
There's no useful year and model list for this part, because the fitment lives in the transmission rather than the car. These boxes end up in AWD-swapped Integras, Civics, and purpose-built drag chassis, and none of that changes what you need. What decides it is the case in front of you.
What to Know Before You Buy
This is a transmission internal. The box has to be apart for it to go in, and a billet bellhousing build needs proper assembly and shimming to OEM specifications regardless. If you're not building B-series AWD transmissions regularly, this is work for a transmission specialist, and the cost of having it done right is a fraction of what a mislocated reverse idler does to a gearset.
You're buying one shaft. No gearset, no bellhousing, no bearings, seals, or shims. Plan the rest of the build separately.
If the table above points you at the Honda straight shaft instead, that's an OEM part under Honda PN 23261-PX5-A00, not something SpeedFactory makes. Order it from a Honda parts counter and put this page out of your mind.
And if you haven't picked a bellhousing yet, the SpeedFactory AWD B-series billet unit is the one this shaft was developed against. It's the same housing under SpeedFactory's own Outlaw drag car, and pairing it with a shaft that was tested against it removes a variable from an already fussy build.
For B-Series
1997-2001 Honda CR-V
Housing Variants, '98 to '01 B-Series AWD
B-series AWD transmissions ran two different reverse gear ratios, and Honda moved the reverse gear and shaft location partway through production. If you're building one with a billet bellhousing and an aftermarket gearset, that change decides which reverse shaft you need. SpeedFactory has assembled these boxes using housings from every year of the run, and the breakdown below is what came out of that.
Start here: ignore the PBW1 or PBW2 stamp on the bellhousing. It tells you nothing about which shaft you need. The build year of the transmission is what matters, along with which reverse shaft was actually sitting in the case when you pulled it apart.
'98 to '99 housings carry a PBW1 stamp and a 3.000 ratio reverse gear, the same ratio as a FWD B-series. If your '98 or '99 outer case had a straight reverse shaft in it, assemble it with that original straight shaft and the SFR billet bellhousing. You don't need anything else.
'00 housings carry a PBW2 stamp, and they're the confusing ones, because Honda went through several iterations inside a single production run. Reverse changed to a 3.461 ratio, and the larger gear had to sit somewhere else. Some early '00 PBW2 housings match the '98 to '99 cases and used an offset reverse shaft with a bushing on the bellhousing side, a different part from the SpeedFactory shaft, to push the 3.461 gear farther from the gear stacks. In later '00 housings Honda moved the reverse shaft locating holes in the case instead, which got rid of the oddball shaft and let them go back to a straight one like the '98 to '99 PBW1 boxes used.
That splits the '00 cases two ways. If yours came apart with the offset shaft and bushing in it, you need a straight reverse shaft, Honda PN 23261-PX5-A00, the same one Honda used in '98, '99, and '01. If yours came apart with a straight shaft in it, you need the SpeedFactory Racing B-Series AWD Offset Reverse Shaft, PN SF-05-601-RS.
'01 housings carry a PBW2 stamp, have the relocated reverse shaft holes for the 3.461 gear, and shipped with the same straight reverse shaft as the '98 to '99 boxes. Run an '01 outer case with the SFR billet bellhousing and you need SF-05-601-RS.
Every one of these paths chases the same two things: putting the reverse idler gear where it belongs so it keeps full tooth engagement, and letting the case halves close properly.
Quick Reference
| Outer case | Stamp | Reverse ratio | Shaft that was in it | What you need |
| '98 to '99 | PBW1 | 3.000 | Straight | Your original straight shaft |
| '00 early | PBW2 | 3.461 | Offset with bushing | Honda straight shaft, PN 23261-PX5-A00 |
| '00 later | PBW2 | 3.461 | Straight | SpeedFactory SF-05-601-RS |
| '01 | PBW2 | 3.461 | Straight | SpeedFactory SF-05-601-RS |
Notice that the '00 cases flip. Offset shaft in the case means you want a straight one, straight shaft in the case means you want the offset one. That inversion is how people end up ordering the wrong part, so get the case down and look at what's in there before you buy anything.