unusual spring swap?

[billthekat]

has aneyone ever tried using the stiffer springs frome the front of a festiva on the rear?

mine with stock springs squats a whole lot on a hard launch.

and i know in fwd waight transfer is bad for dragracing....


just a thought..

[JPT]

Can they be swapped front to rear?

[billthekat]

they looked like they wer the same diamater to me.....

[FB71]

front is larger diameter than rear by about 1/2"

[billthekat]

cool, good to know, and thanks for saving me the trouble....what is the rear diamater?
2.5" ? like a ton of the coilovers are? then it would be easy to get some really stiff rear springs...

[MONSOON]

You can use the Aspire springs theyre stiffer and will raise the Festiva about an inch from what Ive read here. But you could cut the spings to compensate for that if you wanted to keep it at stock heighth.Now Ill say theres been an ongoing debate as to whether this is safe to do or not.

[gorgonheimer]

i have cut aspire springs on my car and the aspire struts. the only problem i have found is that on really hard cornering the car transfers all the weight, lets say to the left, and this lets the right spring come out of the seat. not hard to fix, just jack up the car and put it back but still a nusance(spelling?)

[Safety Guy]

I had my '89L springs measured and compared with the stock (precut) Aspire springs. The Aspire springs were about 10 lbs. per side stiffer in front, and only one pound stiffer in the back. My '89L had around 130K miles on it, so there was some spring fatigue to consider, too. My guess is that Festiva and Aspire rear springs are about the same in back, with only the shorter spring compression at work (same shock length/slightly higher rear bottom perch). Just my guess, anyway.

I was reasonably pleased with both sets of my cut Aspire springs.

On the Mutt ('89L) I had some creaking from one of the fronts when I reversed and turned tight.

On Lux (my '93GL), I used rubber tubing for isolators on the front springs and the right side spring wasn't positioned properly because of this (it will be fixed upon rebuild soon). Lux is also a bit too low in the back and my largish 175/70-13s rub on bumps. I'll fix this too. Unlike the Mutt, Lux has the rear seat and all trim in, plus a full size Optima battery in back. The Mutt was stripped with stock battery location.

I cut my Aspire springs 1 whole coil, IIRC. Or was it 1.5 coils??

Karl

[REDNECK1]

.........so with the 1.8 to compansate for the extra weight i should use the fronts outta the aspire, and put the fronts outta the festy in the rear?.......will this then balance themself's out??.mmmmm

[Seth]

.........so with the 1.8 to compansate for the extra weight i should use the fronts outta the aspire, and put the fronts outta the festy in the rear?.......will this then balance themself's out??.mmmmm

gotta remember theres a difference in the diameter.

[REDNECK1]

i have not drug my but outside to look yet..........with the added weight of the new motor, and the full aspire swap should i be using the fact. strut /spring combo outta the aspire?....or just change the swing arm and knuckles?......i don't want the spring poppin out issue.......that is just not right......

[wrestler3025]

I inadvertently switched them (put the front on the rear and the rear on the front) I was working at night time without too much light, and I also had heater hose spring isolators, so I didn't pick up on the size difference when my wife handed me the springs to put on the rear. It does work, but you are really low in the front, and quite high in the back. I don't mind it though, because I am always carring heavy tools around such as large wet tile saws, miter saws, air compressors, nail guns etc.