'91 festy, '94 Aspire suspension/brakes question

[sandsz]

Hello!

I just finished my Festiva's Aspire suspension/brakes swap and I have a problem, I used a set of '93 Escort tie-rod ends (Aspire's were shot) and I have a lot of positive camber ( top of wheel facing outwards ) and my toe is all wrong (alignment).

So complete rear end went smoothly. Front end I did this... Ford Aspire motor and tranny, front spindles with hubs, brakes and calipers. '93 Escort Tie-rod ends. Swaybar and lower control arms are Festiva flavor.

The alignment I was prepared for but the camber was not really expected!

I looked and searched and couldn't find much information on this Forum about it. The Escort tie-rod ends look exactly the same as the Aspire ones so I'm really at a loss as to what to do.

I did a test to try and see what was going on and this is what I saw. I had my wife reverse the car and it looks like the tires "bow" in. When she drives forward they "bow" out.

What could have I possibly done wrong??

[sasquatch]

i had the same camber problem with mine... take off the wheel and loosen the two strut bolts, get a BIG wrench and a big washer that wont slip out of the box end of the wrench, then put the washer on one of the lug bolts and thread it in to the hub with the wrench in betwen the hub and the washer. now push on the wrench to pust the hub up and get more camber, hold it there and tighten the strut bolts. that should solve it, if not get some camber bolts and try again... hope this helps.

mike.

[muscle_Car1]

What springs you using stock or FMS?

[mechanicaldj]

there is some adjustment if you rotate the top strut mount 180 degrees

and some camber issues will be taken care of with a toe adjustment

[Safety Guy]

You wrote:

"I had my wife reverse the car and it looks like the tires "bow" in. When she drives forward they "bow" out."

It seems you are saying the tires change camber when you go from reverse to forward! If so, something is really wrong.

I have no idea what, but could something be loose?

Camber would be determined by the strut mounts at the top and the control arms and the stabilizer bar at the bottom.

Tie rod ends should only determine toe.

Karl

[FestYboy]

take pictures of what you did, and what it looks like with one of the wheels off.

[sasquatch]

there is some adjustment if you rotate the top strut mount 180 degrees

and some camber issues will be taken care of with a toe adjustment

thanks for the info maby thats whats wrong with mine.... mine is still a bit out, but alot better than before i did my wrench trick to it....

[KingFish]

You can get camber bolts at you parts store. They replace the lower strut bolts. Can give you another degree of 2.

[resuwrecked]

Adjusting the toe doesnt do anything for the camber. Do what mechanicaldj said about rotating the upper strut mounts 180*, or whatever way they are angled on more, and get some camber bolts (install in top knuckle bolt hole. or bottom if you cant get enough adjustment). Napa or some other parts house should have them. When you camber the wheels back in it will make the wheels toe in bad so you will have to readjust the toe. With the car jacked up you should be able to wiggle the wheel back and forth and up and down and have no play, pry down on the lca to check for play in the ball joint. Not too sure what you mean by the wheels "bowing" in and out when moving fore/aft.

[sandsz]

Thanks for all the suggestions!! There is no play when I take the wheel off and shake the hub.

muscle_Car1 : I am using the ford Aspire everything including the strut/spings. I pretty much pulled the whole thing except the lower control arm off the aspire and popped it on the Festiva.

Safety Guy : I think the toe is crazy right now and the tires are literally trying to pull apart and push together when I move forward and back.

If it helps, I did not change the sway bar to an Aspire one... you think that might be a problem??

This morning I pulled the wheel off the drivers side and everything was solid, no wiggle room. I had to go to work so I couldn't do much else so I'll update you guys tomorrow.

[JPT]

Are you using the Aspire axles too?

[Safety Guy]

Are you saying you used the Aspire front struts as well, with the Aspire springs?

If so, using them uncut will raise the front of your car up an inch or two. I've used Aspire cut springs. I cut them 1.5 coils, which seemed to give stock ride height.

Also, you should be using Festiva CV axles, not the Aspire ones, which are too long.

Karl

[sandsz]

Holy crap I totally forgot.... I also swapped the Transmission out for a '94 Aspire 5-speed (was a 5-speed before) because my old one blew up. Was pretty straight forward, with new clutch, no issues there. I did it at the exact same time as the suspension.

I'm using the axles that was on the Festiva so I didn't change those out.

I'm going to go take pics for you guys

[sandsz]

Pics2

Here are the pics you guys wanted. I noticed the axles _look_ like they are not inserted all the way in but they are... possible issue? It didn't leak test driving it at all.

Also, the guy I bought the car from said he swapped the motor out with an aspire one. Anyway to verify this? It definitely is very peppy.

You'll see the next photos will show you the toe is really off.

[sandsz]

pics2

pics2