Aspire brake swap question

[freshtiva]

Do you have to use the aspire tie rod ends or control arms to put the aspire brake swap on ?

[sasquatch]

i used the aspire tie rod ends but they looked the same to me as the festiva ones, but i used them anyway. also you have to use the festiva lca's, if you dont i think your axles will pop out of your trans cause they are to long.

[jasonpaulbauer]

The tie rods are different...... Do you NEED them... dunno.... I swapped them though.

[freshtiva]

I just thought of another question. Are the front brake rotors on a aspire with an automatic tranny different from the rotors off an aspire with a manual tranny ?

[jasonpaulbauer]

Yes... the auto rotors are thicker..... the calipers are different too.

[25Horseplay]

You can use Escort tie rods and they are way cheaper then Aspire ones. Search Safetyguys posts for what year.

[wrestler3025]

I used the 92 escort GT ones as well with my Aspire swap. I've had them on for a couple years now. Any year from 91-02 will work. I got the trw brand from Advance, and they come with a lifetime warranty on them. Just file away your receipt and when the boot goes bad or the end itself, take it to Advance for a new one.

[Ogrestiva]

I am using Ford Escort, Mercury Tracer 91-03 ~$20 on ebay

[skeeters_keeper]

yep - escort ends are the way to go, some brands even have grease fittings. when i go to replace mine i'll be looking for the ones w/ fittings, b/c the ones I have now don't have any.

[festivaWES]

Yeah i have grease zerks (sp) on mine

[Damkid]

i used 323 tie rods on mine

it's the taper that different between the festiva and aspire knuckles which is why you need the different tie rods

[freshtiva]

I think Im going to scrap the whole swap anyway now that I have to use the aspire torsion beam. Maybe Ill wait until I bend a rear beam and then do it.

[skeeters_keeper]

Joseph (htchbck) did the swap w/o using the aspire torsion beam... had to drill a hole in the backing plate and that may have been all, you may want to PM him.


why don't you want to use the aspire beam? thats one of the reasons I really wanted the swap, and its very easy to just swap the entire beam.

[freshtiva]

The main reason is that I dont have a beam and it might be exspensive to get one shipped to me. Ive swapped out a beam before and its not too bad with the exception of the lower strut bolts and the left side beam pivot bolt. Probably just remove the whole pivot bracket. Are the brackets the same ? I will PM Joseph, thanks for the info.

[skeeters_keeper]

Remove the whole pivot bracket; they are the same and its a lot easier than trying to get that pivot bolt out.

if the lower strut bolts are seized they can be a pain... I had that happen on my aspire swap on one side, but if their not seized they are easy.