Aspire Rear Beam Swap

[BigElCat]

you also get the opportunity to escape from having to use 'no-selection' wheelbarrow/trailer tires.

Wheelbarrow? I want to keep these :cry_smile:

[rockin86ranger]

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

1/10 of an inch is maximum error tolerance, this is what most body shops will call good for frame alignment. 1/10 is very much the norm.

Does anybody know what it would take to make an abs aspire setup work on a festiva (Don't care about abs, and don't want to do the work to swap it on to my car). The only aspire around here right now is a ABS 4door.

[Bert]

rockin86ranger: you don't want to get involved with trying to retrofit ABS. Just as much work, or more, as trying to put in power steering. As to using an ABS fitted car to do a Festy swap there should be no problems. Just snip off all the ABS lines and affiliated junk. My Festy has ABS-derived Aspire brakes.

Hey zoom-zoom, I hear ya. "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I suppose I should be driving with a bag over my head everytime I step into a Festy too.

[BigElCat]

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.

The guys that tried this and failed went clear across the beam. Go with 2" squares, the first one centered. Skip 2", then add a 2" square on each side. Tune the rear suspension to balance the front, by adding or removing squares. Maybe you could unbolt the trailing arm attachment brackets to gain access for welding (or cutting) on the car.

[FestYboy]

Can the aspire drum and axle be added to a stock festiva rear? Is it worth the effort?

yes it can, and no, it's not worth the effort to do it ( the spindles and backing plate are a different bolt pattern than the festy, but they use the same bearings, SO, if you were inclined, you could mod the backing plate to fit the festy bolt pattern and get it done that way).

[Icedawg]

Coming back to the original question about the brake line connections, I had the same problem with the Aspire rear axle on the Festi. I ended up getting a short brake line tube with male fittings at both ends from Napa or somewhere similar, and connecting it at both ends of the rubber hoses as a splice. Tied it down with zip ties. Worked fine.

[Bert]

Anyone contemplating toying with backing plate modifications in order to use Aspire hubs and drums on a Festy trailing arm would be better off just finding an Aspire beam in the first place: much less work.
Could be (in the absence of donor Aspires) adapting backing plates is a decent way to try to install Rio rear brakes though. That whole structure (with exception of the brakes) is quite a bit different but at least the front wheel brake and suspension arrangement is usable.