aspire suspension question(s)

[niklid05]

Do you need to swap the aspire spring perches in order to complete the suspension upgrade or can you just used the Festiva ones?

The reason i ask is because i read that it raises the car up, but it also gives an extra 3/4"-1" clearance for bigger wheel/tire combo.

If i were to put the aspire perches in could i still use a Festiva strut/spring combo to achieve a lower height or would that pretty much just bring it back to stock height?

Is the whole aspire suspension swap and brake swap just a "bolt-on" type thing once i have all the parts or am i gonna be cutting stuff down, etc?

-Chett

[Safety Guy]

The spring perches are integral to the struts, not separate.

Aspire rear strut (actually shock) bodies have a 3/4" or so higher spring perch, which will give a bit more inside room for tire fitment.

Front struts are essentially the same as long as you avoid the ABS struts for the Aspire.

Aspire front springs are about 10 lbs. stiffer (each) than the Festiva springs.

Aspire rear springs are only about 1 pound stiffer than Festiva's. In fact they may be the same and differ only through fatigue.

You'll have to cut down the Aspire springs about 1 to 1.5 coils to get Festiva stock ride height. I did that on my '89L.

I think you can use Escort '91 to '95 tie rod ends in place of Aspire tie rod ends. See my thread on that and take your risk. I ain't done it yet but I'm pretty sure it'll work & save you mucho $$$$.

The Aspire susp/brake swap is "bolt in," but you may need to use a torch and some other "mechanic's skills" to loosen stuck bolts, tie rod ends, and who knows what else. My '89L was extremely rusted in the front end and I'm not really a "mechanic." I had to get help. My '93GL is pretty clean and I don't think I'll have as many problems.

YMMV.

Karl

[niklid05]

thanks safety guy for the reply.

I really dont feel up to cutting springs and would just rather have aftermarket springs and struts. So for aftermarket springs and struts would I get the aspire ones or the festiva ones? FMS says the springs lower the car 40mm which is around 1.75 inches or so. That would lead me to believe that the aspire suspension with aspire aftermarket springs lowers the festiva an inch below festiva stock height. Am I correct in assuming this? or am wrong? thank you.

[Safety Guy]

I can't tell you for sure, but that is my plan for my next swap.

I want to use the Aspire lowering springs on my '93GL, which seems to be considerably heavier up front than my '89L. I'm hoping it will end up around stock height.

My '93 also has over 195K miles, compared with only around 130K for my other one, so fatigue probably plays a role here.

Who knows for sure?

Karl