Kia-Aspire wheel swaps

[Safety Guy]

Those refurbished-looking Aspire alloys sold quickly! At $40 each, they certainly should have. They're the perfect width for 145 to 165 tires. The only drawback is that they're a bit heavy at 13 pounds each. IIRC, the Aspire steel wheel with the same dimensions is less than a pound heavier. Aspire alloys shoulda been around 11 or 12 pounds, easily.

Karl

[bravekozak]

I personally do not like handed patterns on wheels, unless there is a matching pattern for the opposite side, which there almost never is.

[Bert]

I personally do not like handed patterns on wheels, unless there is a matching pattern for the opposite side, which there almost never is.

I have to agree that some wheels are more attractive than others. But in this case I won't look a gift horse in the mouth. These ones are lightweight, in good shape, perfect fit and best of all; free.

[DriverOne]

Free.

:notworthy:FREE!!!!

[Bert]

:notworthy:FREE!!!!

Around here many owners of 10 year old Rios are junking them because of recurring front wheel bearing failures. When I liberated the alloy rims off the 03 Rio wagon headed for the recycler the caked grease on the inside of the front rims told me what had happened once too often. The disgruntled owner commutes 150 miles a day and was having to have the bearings re-done (by Kia!) almost twice a year. He'd simply had enough.
If you're patient enough you can probably find prettier rims but at least you now know they're a direct fit. I notice the early steel wheels are identical to Aspires and there are 13s and 14s.

[Safety Guy]

Early Rio wheels that look like Aspire should be 13 X 5" instead of 4.5" wide. I have yet to confirm that in person but that's what all the wheel sites say.

Karl

[Bert]

Early Rio wheels that look like Aspire should be 13 X 5" instead of 4.5" wide. I have yet to confirm that in person but that's what all the wheel sites say.

Karl

I was a little concerned initially about using Kia wheels; they're 14 X 6. Backset is about 4 3/4". However, it works perfect with modest width tires! Rios use standard 175-65-14s which sort of make a Festy look like it was purposed for off-road use. Those ones are 23 inch in diameter.
The 2 sets of 1997 Aspire steel wheels I have gathered over the years (I'm pretty sure) are 13 X 5. Festy steel wheels are 4 inch whereas the alloys are 4.5.

[bravekozak]

The bolt pattern for Kia Sephia Spectra wheels is 4 X 100. It's 14 X 5.5, just like my Geo Storm wheels. But it may not require any hub centric rings. I wonder what the center bore is?

[Bert]

The beauty of U-pull facilities (certainly the one in Ottawa) is for $15-20 you can take a wheel and tire home to try out. If it's a 'no go' you simply bring it back for a refund or keep trying out other wheels. Usually though, going to a JY with calipers or a tape measure will also answer a lot of questions.

[Bert]

I personally do not like handed patterns on wheels, unless there is a matching pattern for the opposite side, which there almost never is.

One thing about experimenting with rims that you really believe will fit (ie 100 mm wheel pattern, tolerable offset, OK hub center) is that often times the profile of the rim itself can interfere with calipers and such. This is especially true of alloy wheels.
Kia wheels may not be what you or I call overly attractive, but looking at how they're specifically shaped to avoid contacting the front rotors (despite their now being mounted over Aspire calipers) does tell me that there will be less fussing around in selecting compatible wheels if you choose to shop Kia instead of automatically assuming Honda/Toyota/VW/etc will also be direct and instant fit.

[zoom zoom]

Rio has the same 54.1mm centerbore, same lug studs too.

[Safety Guy]

"Rio has the same 54.1mm centerbore, same lug studs too."

I picked up a bunch of Rio lug bolts a while back. They have a weird washer on them and look like they might be longer, but they're not.

For my VW alloys, the VW bolts work perfectly. Perfect length, but they're for VW wheels or other ball seat shapes only.

For my cone seated wheels, you need to go to ebay or some stores and get properly sized BMW lug bolts which seem to work fine. Just check the front wheels if you run alloys, since the bolts need to be long enough to screw into the hubs more than one or two turns!

Karl

[Bert]

"Rio has the same 54.1mm centerbore, same lug studs too."

I picked up a bunch of Rio lug bolts a while back. They have a weird washer on them and look like they might be longer, but they're not.

For my VW alloys, the VW bolts work perfectly. Perfect length, but they're for VW wheels or other ball seat shapes only.

For my cone seated wheels, you need to go to ebay or some stores and get properly sized BMW lug bolts which seem to work fine. Just check the front wheels if you run alloys, since the bolts need to be long enough to screw into the hubs more than one or two turns!

Karl

Bolts I'm using are off a VW and plenty long enough. I think it was you that warned about 'cone seat' vs 'ball seat' last year when I got hold of some VW 13" alloy wheels after completing the Aspire swap.
You are absolutely correct to warn folks to check for adequate purchase of threads into the front hubs (and rear drums). Easiest/quickest way to check is by inserting a bolt through a loose rim and seeing how much is left sticking out. For sure you want at least 3/8".

The really nice thing about escaping from 12 inch rims is the ability to buy quality tires. The only available 12s up here (at Canadian Tire and sometimes Walmart etc) are garbage. I ran 50 miles of winding paved roads out in the country yesterday afternoon at 3000 rpm (125km/h?) in 5th and the car was steady as a rock and there was no weird steering wheel pull nor road/tire vibrations at all. That is an absolute first for me in 8 years and 100,000+ miles of running around in Festys.
Now all I have to do is refine the front and rear springs in that car. The FMS sport springs do nothing for me; too low and too stiff.