Aspire Rear Beam Swap

[Rectilinear]

We installed the Aspire rear beam in the Festy yesterday. It was amazing how simple the swap actually was. We used Aspire rear struts with Honda Civic rear springs with 3.5 coils cut out of the tapered end. We expect to add limiting straps to help in case that the suspension is completely unloaded, which knowing me, it will be at some point.

The only issue was the driver side rubber brake hose that is too short. Is there a particular hose that needs to be used to span the gap on this? It seems to be about 4" too short now. Can't find it with search...

Getting excited to drive this thing now!

[blake4591]

I believe that the Aspire brake hose is longer and will fix this.

When I did my swap the Aspire trailing arm I used had two brackets one in the same place as the festiva and one for the Aspire hose. The one in the festiva location didn't have the tabs to hold the brake hose so it wouldn't spin when tightening the hard line to it. I used the festiva hose and ran the hard line through the bracket at the festiva location and ended it about an inch past the bracket. I wrapped it in an old inner tube from a bike to keep it from rubbing on the bracket and held the hose with a pair of channel locks while tightening the hard line to it. Its not the right way to do it but it took about ten minutes and saved me from having to buy the apsire hose. If I have to replace the hose I'll fix it the right way.

[Rectilinear]

I have the Aspire brake hose with the rear beam and it still comes up short due to the location of the mounting bracket. I will get under there again tonight to see if I can get it to work somehow...

I may have to do something similar to how you secured yours.

[Safety Guy]

Interesting. I've always used Aspire hoses and don't recall having to mod anything to get them to fit right. I did have some kind of problem on my Aqua build but I don't think this was it.

Ah, looked up my Aqua swap and I had trouble with the left rear bracket and hose fitting into it. It didn't fit, so I made a "pillow" out of an old rubber bushing and zip tied it on top of the brake bracket. Could have been a case of the wrong brake hose, since my front hoses were also wrong--for a Festiva instead of an Aspire, like I'd ordered. Be very careful when you are getting and using Rockauto "closeouts." They apparently sent me several Festiva parts instead of Aspire parts. In other words, Festiva hose bracket fittings don't work in Aspire brackets. I had to zip tie my fronts too, until I replaced them with Rio hoses, which are almost exactly like Aspire hoses.

Karl

[Rectilinear]

I may try to just look up the brake hose manufacturer and find another that is a direct fit. Looks like it needs to be about 3-4" longer!

Also, has anyone ever boxed in the rear beam to stiffen it further? This is something we seriously considered before install.... Looks like 2" x .125" plate welded to the forward end would seriously add to the stiffness.

[KingFish]

What year of civic springs did you use?

[Rectilinear]

I think it was about a 95-96. The diameter of the spring was almost exactly the same as the Festy, but it tapered down at one end. That happens to be the end I chopped off of it so it is no longer a tapered spring.

We arrived at the Civic springs by taking an Aspire spring off and walking the yard with it for comparison sake. The Civic had almost the same size wire diameter, but many more coils than the Aspire/Festy spring. And it seemed to work perfect with the Aspire strut.

Just got the battery box and cutoff switch yesterday so we should know how it rides soon!

[71Montego]

Aside from the larger drums and the 4 x 100 bolt pattern what else makes it better. I mean. I have the treaded rod already. Is anything else beefier?
Or is the best whay to get the larger drum thru the swap? Can the aspire drum and axle be added to a stock festiva rear? Is it worth the effort?

[jamesmc]

Aside from the larger drums and the 4 x 100 bolt pattern what else makes it better. I mean. I have the treaded rod already. Is anything else beefier?
Or is the best whay to get the larger drum thru the swap? Can the aspire drum and axle be added to a stock festiva rear? Is it worth the effort?

The only difference is the larger drums, the 4x100 bolt pattern, and the integrated stabilizer bar. The rear beam swap is very easy. It's really just four bolts on each side, the two brake lines, and then the e-brake cable. The hardest part is probably finding the donor Aspire. The difference it makes was very surprising. The handling was vastly improved, and braking was definitely better. (Of course, my Festiva's rear drums never worked anyway.) If you want larger drums and 4x100, it's probably the easiest way.

Aspire left, Festiva right

[71Montego]

Understood. How much should I expect to pay for the rear I beam?

thanks

[jamesmc]

A salvage yard shouldn't be too expensive I would imagine. I just bought the whole car for $350, and scrapped for $250.

Sent from my MIUI 3vo.

[Bert]

jamesmc: They say a picture is worth a 1000 words. Your shot of two types of rear trailing arms, with both versions of brakes, is self-explanatory. Folks that are anticipating this 'miracle swap' should remember to grab the Aspire body mounting brackets too. They may not be necessary (you can use the Festy brackets) but the Aspire fixins are thicker and taller and make it much easier to get at trailing arm pivot bolts ever after.

I had side to side alignment issues with the Aspire arm (it was 3/16" off being dead-centered on the long axis of the car) and the adapted larger VW rims and wider tires on my car really highlighted the difference. Could be Kia was sloppy in locating the original Festy holes (and who would have ever noticed or could be bothered at the time) or maybe a 3/32 (namely 1/10 inch!) error tolerance on Festy bodies combined with a similar 3/32 error on Aspire brackets all compounded.
Whatever, I wound up slotting the bolt holes of the 1/8 inch thick mounting brackets, with a dremel tool and carbide cutter bit, and punching out a new bracket location/alignment hole on the passenger side of the body. Seemingly minor but irritating problem initially, but one wheel really rubbed on bumps and under load until those brackets were shifted.

Size of the Aspire rear drums graphically illustrates how foolish anyone would be to figuring on stuffing in a bigger/better engine while omitting to upgrade the suspension and brakes. By virtue of surface area Aspire brakes are stronger and wear better/longer than any stock Festy stuff. Whether you choose to soup up a Festy, or not, the Aspire upgrade is well worth the price of admission in the long run. Braking and handling are vastly improved. Plus (thanks to the Aspire more common 4 hole 100mm bolt spacing) you also get the opportunity to escape from having to use 'no-selection' wheelbarrow/trailer tires.

One more thing, as stated by jamesmc, it is typically cheaper and easier to purchase a complete Aspire (up in this neck of the woods they are largely unwanted, undesirable and IMHO homely-looking (ugly)) than it is to start scavenging around in JYs trying to get parts off one. Matter of fact I discovered that JYs in this area shred them soon as they come in. I've brought home 2 that were still roadworthy over the past year, all for under $500, and the tires and rims, batteries and newer B3 engines in them were gratuitous, plus the recycler gave me a couple of hundred bucks once it was all over.

[zoom zoom]

^

Yea, when I decided to put a BP in my aspire I was thinking about other parts of the car, and I was going to do a Festy swap, but I couldn't find a Festiva part worthy of being on my car. That's probably why jy's around here scrap them out ASAP too.

[KingFish]

What I mean is, the cost of Rio knuckle assmy is the same in the yard as the aspire, same bolt pattern but w/ MUCH bigger brakes. Rear beam is still the best option, but if the Rio is common (more so than the Aspire) then why not do Rio fronts?

[BigElCat]

Aspire left, Festiva right
[/QUOTE]

Maybe I'm confused here, but the Aspire and the Festiva appear to have the same style trailing arms. The Aspire assembly is upside down in the picture. The Aspire doesn't have an additional stabilizer bar that I'm aware of, only a larger and heavier torsion beam.

Rectilinear's idea of boxing the beam has been tried, IIRC, with bad results. You lose all the semi-independent action, and create stress points close to the trailing arms.

Could someone post a pic of the inside of an Aspire brake drum?