Aspire Rear Axle Beam Fix Plan

[Safety Guy]

I have bad strut bearings in front, so I'm putting on my Aspire front suspension early. This week.

I also want to put on my rear axle, but it has a problem:

One lower shock bolt came out easy. The other one kept turning, real hard, with the shock leaning over. The metal sleeve had corroded onto the bolt and refused to come out. Unfortunately, I kept turning it and actually pushed the inner threaded captive "nut" (inside the trailing arm) farther into the trailing arm. I had Midas cut out my shockbolt and sleeve, and then I thought I'd put in a short bolt and pull that threaded section back into place. That didn't work. The bolt doesn't catch.

I have an Aspire rear axle that doesn't have one shock mount.

Here's my plan:

1. Take off the brake drum assembly.
2. Drill hole, maybe up to 3/8" in diameter, on the other side of the trailing arm for access. A hole in this area should not matter.
3. Put in punch and use hammer to whack that threaded bit back into place.

What do you all think?

Any better ideas?

Karl

[mattswabb]

You could reuse your festiva beam and just transfer the aspire hubs to it. The only difference between the 2 is the sway bar.

As you've figured out the bolt and the inner steel sleeve rust together and the bond is strong enough to break the bolt head or push out the captive nut. In the future here's what I do. Usually the bolt head breaks off. Cut the shock off. Use a cut off wheel and make 2 cuts so you can remove the shock and this will leave the rubber and inner sleeve on the beam. If the head is still on then cut it off. Remove the rubber. Then cut the remaining bolt in half. This will leave a short piece of the bolt and sleeve sticking out. Now use a vise grip or small pipe wrench and it will come right out.

Make sure to coat the inside of the sleeve, the bolt and all threaded connections with anti-seeze.

[Safety Guy]

Ah, but the sway bar is what I want! I'm understeering quite enough as it is and I'd like some more rear roll stiffness.

I'm thinking my plan will work. If not, I guess I'll get another axle and strip this one of brake parts.

If the two axles are the same, what about bolting a steel tube inside the Festiva axle body? Drill several sets of upper and lower holes through it maybe every ten inches or so and do the same with a 1 to 1.5" diameter tube. Put in the through bolts with washers and nuts to "weld" the two together. They don't need to be welded at the ends, do they? I doubt it would provide as much stiffness as the Aspire unit, but it would be a bit lighter and could possibly be done on the car. I would think the bolts and tube would provide a bit of extra torsional rigidity.

Also, don't either the Aspire brake backing plates or the attachment holes in the Festiva axle trailing arms have to be slotted out to fit each other? (I seem to recall it takes a bit of modification to mate the two assemblies.)

Thanks Matt,

Karl