Aspire vs Festiva rear struts, with pics

[fastivaca]

^^^ Thanks for the compliments!

[graywolf_14]

Yeah I was wondering myself about the affect it has with festiva lowering springs. And would you still have the rub problem if you used the coil overs offered by fms. Oh man and fastivaca that is a nice looking car! I think if I was going to do a stock look that is very close to how I would want mine, maybe some fog lights on the bumper like a mini.

[Ephet]

im putting 14s on my festy looks like i gotta find some aspire struts, but are the stoc aspire struts better then stock festys? and is the perch higher?

[BigElCat]

I'm going to be doing the Aspire rear strut conversion to my Festiva soon. I've read previous posts/stickies about this. It looks like I can expect the rear to lift 1" to 1.5" if I use Aspire springs with the Aspire struts.

What about ride height if you use Festiva springs on the Aspire struts?

My goal is increased load carrying as well as improved handling when unloaded. I've seen the coil-over converions, which are cool, but I'm on a junkyard budget.

Thanks for the strut pics.

[BigElCat]

Okay, forget what I said about "coil-overs". I meant adjustable coil-overs. According to the FSM, the rear struts are actually coil-over shocks, cause the don't swivel.

So anyway, thanks for any assistance on my low dollar rear suspension upgrade.

[Pu241]

^^^^
Returned from ancient past!

[TominMO]

I'm going to be doing the Aspire rear strut conversion to my Festiva soon. I've read previous posts/stickies about this. It looks like I can expect the rear to lift 1" to 1.5" if I use Aspire springs with the Aspire struts.

What about ride height if you use Festiva springs on the Aspire struts?

My goal is increased load carrying as well as improved handling when unloaded. I've seen the coil-over converions, which are cool, but I'm on a junkyard budget.

Thanks for the strut pics.

Regarding ride height, the Aspire strut's lower spring perch is only 5/8" higher than the one on Festy struts, so I would expect a similarly taller ride height.

[Aaronbrook37]

Regarding ride height, the Aspire strut's lower spring perch is only 5/8" higher than the one on Festy struts, so I would expect a similarly taller ride height.

Completely agree.

[BigElCat]

^^^Greetings Pu241!

After a 2 year (self-imposed) exile, I'm completely reformed. My posts will now be about Festivas, only. No more nonsense.

So do I leave the Aspire springs on the Aspire struts, or use the Festiva springs? I'm looking for increased 'cargo capacity' and handling improvement. I'll upgrade the front suspension later.

[BigElCat]

Regarding ride height, the Aspire strut's lower spring perch is only 5/8" higher than the one on Festy struts, so I would expect a similarly taller ride height.

I'll be using this for clearance. I have Capri alloy rims and hope to use 185 or 195/60 tires.

This also means the stock Festiva spring would be compressed 5/8" if the Aspire strut has the same 'top hat' height. Would this stiffen the spring rate?

Is the stock Aspire spring shorter than the Festiva spring?

[Safety Guy]

BigL, when I measured the spring rates of both Festiva ('89L, 120K miles) and Aspire ('96, maybe 89K miles) rear springs, the Aspire springs were only one pound stiffer. My guess is that is more due to age and mileage and the spring sets are the same. They look the same in both thickness and height.

Karl

[BigElCat]

Freshtiva posted a great pic of the Festiva strut side by side to the Aspire strut.

The Aspire is about 5/8" longer between the lower spring perch and the bottom mounting bolt. I guess I'd need to see the Aspire strut loaded with the spring, compared to the same for a Festiva set up to answer my question.

I'll be going to the junkyard looking for Aspire rears.

[BigElCat]

Thanks for the input, Safety Guy.

Does anybody have any suggestions of a heavier spring that will fit on the stock Aspire/Festiva rear strut? KIA Rio?

[Safety Guy]

Rio rear susp is completely different. Won't work.

So far there is no confirmed stiffer replacement for the rear springs, except for the heavy duty rears offered by FMS.

Get the lowest mileage, nicest looking Aspire rears you can and don't cut them. That's probably the cheapest solution.

Karl

[Pu241]

Does anybody have any suggestions of a heavier spring that will fit on the stock Aspire/Festiva rear strut?

What are you looking at hauling in the hatch area or are you going to use a trailer?