Kia Rio Front Strut Assembly Install

[timmay89]

Hi Everyone,

So I went to the junkyard the other day and picked up the entire kia rio strut assemblies from the local PnP off of a 2001 Kia Rio. I also grabbed Ford aspire shocks for the rear. (I am not doing an entire aspire swap at the moment) I plan on installing them into my stock Festiva this week. There will be pictures with the install to help others who are interested in doing this as well. From my research I believe Bhazard and Safetyguy have both done this swap. Here are some good links on the install:
Link 1
Link 2

Before I go ahead and do this I have a question for those who have done this swap. For the kia rio assemblies, would it be better to cut 2.5 coils off of the Kia Rio springs, or attempt to use the festiva springs? Coilovers are too stiff for my liking.

Right now my suspension is super bouncy becuase it has 280,000miles on it. So I hope to stiffen it up a bit, but not too much as this is a daily driver.

[Bert]

Good boy Timmay89! I've been contemplating the exact same swap myself. Hang on to the Rio shocks and mounts since they're different from Aspire/Festy in rod diameter and the mounts have bearings (instead of flat washers) in them. But I wouldn't immediately be cutting 2 1/2 coil turns off Rio springs until I tried them out first. And make sure you drive/bounce the Festy around the block a few times before you come to a decision.
I am eagerly awaiting the results of your experimenting. Removing and re-installing front springs is time consuming no matter how freely turning all the nuts and bolts are.
For all the trouble you're about to go through maybe you want to go back to the JY and grab the remaining Aspire brake fixins to go with all this. Attached are pics of all the Aspire front and rear stuff I gathered up from a purchased car (97 model no ABS and an auto trans) 2 weeks ago. I have completed one Festy/Aspire swap already last spring.

[bhazard]

Dont use the festy springs, theyre gonna be lower rate than the rio struts are designed for. Plus theyre also well worn out by now. Why do you think youre replacing all this stuff? The struts arent the only things that wear out.

Youll probably end up cutting 1.5-2 coils off the rio springs. If you dont, the car will sit super high in the front and probably wreck one or both CV's.

If you have access to torches, when you cut the spring, flatten the top coil down so it sits in the perch right.

[timmay89]

Dont use the festy springs, theyre gonna be lower rate than the rio struts are designed for. Plus theyre also well worn out by now. Why do you think youre replacing all this stuff? The struts arent the only things that wear out.

Youll probably end up cutting 1.5-2 coils off the rio springs. If you dont, the car will sit super high in the front and probably wreck one or both CV's.

If you have access to torches, when you cut the spring, flatten the top coil down so it sits in the perch right.

Thanks for the reply. So you think 2 coils will be better than the 2.5 coils that you did on your festiva? (I'm also thinking of doing 1 coil off for the aspire rears.)

[bhazard]

Cant say for sure, experiment first. You can always take more off, you cant put it back on.

[Bert]

When I did the Aspire/Festy swap on the front of my car I 'bought into' the Rio mounts (which have bearings) using Aspire (Monroe-made) shocks. I made it work (piston rod sleeves were were Jury-rigged) but it would be even nicer to know that Rio complete 'assemblies (shocks/springs/struts)' were compatible on their own. The 01-type Rios certainly look compatible with Festys and the bolt arrangement appears to be identical.
If the only real issue is spring height then trial and error can correct all that. Flattening a spring at the top, for sure is another topic somewhere here on the forum and not one I can comment on without expertise with torches.

[perucho]

Measure the length between the top hat and the bottom perch at full extension with the spring still in the strut. That is the minimum length you need to have the spring be (off the strut) after cutting it so that it won't get unseated at full strut extension. Don't know how many coils that is for a Rio spring. How low are you trying to get?

[timmay89]

Measure the length between the top hat and the bottom perch at full extension with the spring still in the strut. That is the minimum length you need to have the spring be (off the strut) after cutting it so that it won't get unseated at full strut extension. Don't know how many coils that is for a Rio spring. How low are you trying to get?

I am trying to get stock ride height. There are alot more coils on the rio springs than on the aspire springs. So basically the best idea would be to jack up the car on one side and let the suspension hang down, and measure it from there?

So I am feeling that the plan will be to cut 2 springs off of the rio struts to start, and 1 coil off of the aspire shock assembly. I will either do this this Thursday or Sunday. I will try to take pictures to and provide loads of information for others.

[Safety Guy]

Hi Timmay. I used early Rio front struts with Aspire springs cut one coil for my fronts.

I have not yet tried cut Rio springs, but I have a set or two, so one day I will.

Use Perucho's method to determine the minimum length to cut the springs. It will probably be more than 2.5 coils.

I think I'd try cutting 1.5 or 2 coils first. Don't start by cutting 2.5 coils. You may have to cut, assemble struts, install struts and check ride height first. Then maybe cut again.

If you want full load carrying capability in the rear, I'd keep your rear Aspire springs uncut. Especially if you are using 175/70-13 tires or anything taller than this. I have Aspire springs on Aspire Monroes in back and my 175/70s sometimes rub on bumps.

Good luck!

Karl

[timmay89]

Youll probably end up cutting 1.5-2 coils off the rio springs. If you dont, the car will sit super high in the front and probably wreck one or both CV's.

If you have access to torches, when you cut the spring, flatten the top coil down so it sits in the perch right.

Just about to do this. Could you not just cut off the coils from the bottom of the strut, that way you would not need to torch?

[zoom zoom]

That's what I did..cut the bottom coils off the spring. Others on fa.com have done it too with thousands of miles and no ill effects. Just remember after you install the cut springs that you need to drive for a couple (hundred?) Miles so the springs will fully seat and you get an acccurate reading of the height.

Sc72 installed the rio struts and springs on his festy and didn't cut ANY coils, he swears it sits perfect, like stock, and it looked right at Ohiosteva when I seen his car, bhazards car is lowered. So I'd be careful with how many you do cut off..like someone said you can always cut more, but you can't put it back. Once you get close to the ride height you want, camber bolts are an option for correcting that.

[russian]

I will be installing kia rio fronts this Saturday. I have 2.5 sets (do not ask), most of them have this nasty 3rd bolt at the top which I will probably need to cut first.

My plan is to lower the car a bit... Will let you know how many coils

[zoom zoom]

I will be installing kia rio fronts this Saturday. I have 2.5 sets (do not ask), most of them have this nasty 3rd bolt at the top which I will probably need to cut first.

My plan is to lower the car a bit... Will let you know how many coils

The top mount bolts need to be 180 degrees apart, I don't know if just tapping the third one out will work. The bolts come out if you hit them down with a hammer. Technically it's 2000-2002.5 top mounts that bolt up, late in 2002 is when they transitioned to a 3 bolt top mount.

[timmay89]

Update:
Ok so last night I went and installed the front Kia Rio struts. Before I installed them the car sat at 24" high with my big tires. After installing the struts, the car now sits at 24.75" high. Hopefully by tonight they come down a bit more. So NO coils were cut. I have pictures, they will be put up on Monday.

The Ride:
Amazing! Very little body roll if any after the install. The suspension response is great. So far it feels like the perfect setup. I think I like these as much if not more than the Aspire struts. I will update Monday after I have driven it some more.

[zoom zoom]

Yaa thats right.. just wait, after you drive for a couple weeks you'll really appreciate the quality of the ride, and the less effort it takes to turn the wheel in parking lots. Cutting the springs will make it a little springier, but it's still awesome, 20x better than stock, imo.