Lifting the front quickly runs into challenges, the camber goes positive and the
front axles are fully collapsed and lift the transmission up an inch or so
with the transmission mounts un bolted. All this happens at about 6" of
lift. One other problem is the drivers side CV is fully flexed on the inboard
joint .
The positive camber is far more than what a camber bolt kit can handle so
the first fix was to look at longer LCA's , the aspire, but it even is not close
to the length needed. So...out with the saw and welder, now the lower
control arms are an inch and a half longer than stock festiva LCA's.
This causes a tow in problem, again the Aspire rack and inner tie rod is
not long enough, so the inner tie rod got the same treatment, using steel
stronger than stock as longer is weaker. Now the inner tie rods are 1 inch
longer than stock.
This leaves the angle problem..Using a transfer case drop kit the cross-member was dropped and rotated, This puts a "tilt" to the inner cv's that
equalizes the angle difference caused by one short shaft and one long shaft.
Still, the short cv shaft did not have enough travel to keep up with the in
and out arc of the control arm. An Aspire '97 ABS shaft has the long travel
tripod plunge joint with 2 1/2 inches of travel as opposed to the 1 7/8 travel of the stock inner ball plunge joint.
Now my long travel coil overs can be set to what ever I desire for height
and have no interference doing so! The ride is great and it is so easy to
pop in and out of. Steering circle is smaller! The tires are moved forward
in the wheel well about a 1/2 inch. This because the sway bar pulls forward
as it points down.
The caster, camber and tow are where I want them, the scrub radius is smaller and the roller bearing upper plate make steering effortless.
A few more details and I should be ready for the new ATV tires!!
front axles are fully collapsed and lift the transmission up an inch or so
with the transmission mounts un bolted. All this happens at about 6" of
lift. One other problem is the drivers side CV is fully flexed on the inboard
joint .
The positive camber is far more than what a camber bolt kit can handle so
the first fix was to look at longer LCA's , the aspire, but it even is not close
to the length needed. So...out with the saw and welder, now the lower
control arms are an inch and a half longer than stock festiva LCA's.
This causes a tow in problem, again the Aspire rack and inner tie rod is
not long enough, so the inner tie rod got the same treatment, using steel
stronger than stock as longer is weaker. Now the inner tie rods are 1 inch
longer than stock.
This leaves the angle problem..Using a transfer case drop kit the cross-member was dropped and rotated, This puts a "tilt" to the inner cv's that
equalizes the angle difference caused by one short shaft and one long shaft.
Still, the short cv shaft did not have enough travel to keep up with the in
and out arc of the control arm. An Aspire '97 ABS shaft has the long travel
tripod plunge joint with 2 1/2 inches of travel as opposed to the 1 7/8 travel of the stock inner ball plunge joint.
Now my long travel coil overs can be set to what ever I desire for height
and have no interference doing so! The ride is great and it is so easy to
pop in and out of. Steering circle is smaller! The tires are moved forward
in the wheel well about a 1/2 inch. This because the sway bar pulls forward
as it points down.
The caster, camber and tow are where I want them, the scrub radius is smaller and the roller bearing upper plate make steering effortless.
A few more details and I should be ready for the new ATV tires!!
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