2003-2005 rio has larger brakes...

[russian]

I have not seen this mentioned here, so...

"...In 2002 the Rio received a mild redesign (for the 2003 model year in the US) including upgrades in engine, suspension, brakes..." (c) Wikipedia

I've grabbed both 2001 and 2004 spindles from a junkyard yesterday. While 2001-2002 rio spindles and brakes look exactly like aspire, 2003+ rio uses a completely different brake caliper - the pad is longer and narrow, not like the nearly square aspire pad. This means front part of the spindle is different - caliper mounting holes are further apart. The rest of the spindle look exactly the same so I guess this setup should be an upgrade for us, since this would get us 0.74 extra inches of brake rotors:
2001-2002 rio rotor: Overall Diameter: 9.25"
2003-2005 rio rotor: Overall Diameter: 9.99"

I know this post is lame without pictures, but it's too hot here in Chicago now and my brain barely function... Can post pics Tue night if anyone would be interested

[nitrofarm]

The "newer" Rio uses a BR91 Knuckle bearing.So watch out for this the OD is slightly smaller than the BR11 & you could actually think they interchange. Obviously the outer Tie Rod is gonna be different.Maybe you could make a sleeve adapter......

[russian]

The "newer" Rio uses a BR91 Knuckle bearing.So watch out for this the OD is slightly smaller than the BR11 & you could actually think they interchange. Obviously the outer Tie Rod is gonna be different.Maybe you could make a sleeve adapter......

We are talking about face lifted DC, 1st gen Rio? Because OReilly website shows me same A18 for 2001 1.5 and 2003 1.6... And same Outer Tie Rods, for instance ES3388?

[zoom zoom]

I'd like to interject that if your looking at rockauto wheel bearing part numbers, your wrong because they are wrong. I ordered some timkens for my 02 rio knuckles, and they sent me the wrong parts. I went to autozone and got bearings for a 94 aspire and they fit perfect. The old bearing races from the rio had the same part numbers as all the other aspire knuckles I've taken apart. I'm not speaking for 03+ rio knuckles, but you may want to verify your information.

[russian]

...your wrong because they are wrong...

Now with my response (#3) I am confused who is wrong So, are they same bearing/tie rods, or are they different?

amazon shows same outer tie rod ends for 2001 and 2004, but different bearings

[nitrofarm]

I'd like to interject that if your looking at rockauto wheel bearing part numbers, your wrong because they are wrong. I ordered some timkens for my 02 rio knuckles, and they sent me the wrong parts. I went to autozone and got bearings for a 94 aspire and they fit perfect. The old bearing races from the rio had the same part numbers as all the other aspire knuckles I've taken apart. I'm not speaking for 03+ rio knuckles, but you may want to verify your information.

01-02 are the same as the Aspire ZOOM. By "newer" I'm refering to 03-up because he pulled an 04 knuckle from the JY. And thats the ones he wants to use because of bigger pads.The OD on the BR91 is -.0003.

[nitrofarm]

Now with my response (#3) I am confused who is wrong So, are they same bearing/tie rods, or are they different?

amazon shows same outer tie rod ends for 2001 and 2004, but different bearings

How are you planning on spinning the Kia Tie Rods onto the inner Festy Tie Rods?

[russian]

How are you planning on spinning the Kia Tie Rods onto the inner Festy Tie Rods?

I might be missing something, because 1) oreilly 2) amazon 3) http://www.ebay.com/itm/2-Front-Oute...-/290493143928 are telling me that 2001 and 2003 rio is the same outer tie rod end. Can you please clarify what do you think would be an issue?

Anyway I have my old festiva inners in a bin somewhere I will see if they match 2003 rio.

[russian]

Also this seller http://www.ebay.com/itm/AutoExtra-AX...-/370625769675 claims inner same inner is used on 2001/2002 and 2003/2004

[nitrofarm]

Anyway I have my old festiva inners in a bin somewhere I will see if they match 2003 rio.

Thats what I'm saying....they wont.

[DriverOne]

If you have 10" rotors and 14" wheels, it seems that your braking ratio would be 95/5 even if you had rear Aspire drums. At that point, it seems wisest to mock the caliper location on an Aspire front knuckle to a plate on the rear Aspire axle, and mount '01 RIO rear hubs with a VW rear beam disc conversion kit.

[russian]

If you have 10" rotors and 14" wheels, it seems that your braking ratio would be 95/5 even if you had rear Aspire drums. At that point, it seems wisest to mock the caliper location on an Aspire front knuckle to a plate on the rear Aspire axle, and mount '01 RIO rear hubs with a VW rear beam disc conversion kit.

Not sure front brakes should be used on the rear, but I am working on disk brakes for the rear as we speak... But that's a different story

[Bert]

Wow. That sounds like a lot of work to slow down a car that brakes way better (with Aspire goodies) than OEM already.
GM put discs on their pickup trucks for a year or two not long ago until they got too many complaints about mud and stones hindering the operation of them. If you notice GM has gone back to drums on the back.
However, I am always keen to hear or see the results of other folks experimentation when it comes to Festys!

[MrFishah]

How are you planning on spinning the Kia Tie Rods onto the inner Festy Tie Rods?

I'm confused by this post. We have outer Rio/Aspire tie rods attached to Festiva inner tie-rods and it works perfectly....

[rbrown]

If you have 10" rotors and 14" wheels, it seems that your braking ratio would be 95/5 even if you had rear Aspire drums. At that point, it seems wisest to mock the caliper location on an Aspire front knuckle to a plate on the rear Aspire axle, and mount '01 RIO rear hubs with a VW rear beam disc conversion kit.

Wait what? Are you saying the brakes would be too strong for the little Festy?

That conversion kit is pretty sweet.