Aspire Brake Swap Questions

[TominMO]

Okay so I think I'm ready. I was going to change out my shocks this weekend, but lo and behold I cannot find them anywhere. Everyone has to special order them and they are not even available from Monroe or KYB.

www.rockauto.com Get the KYBs.

[mastadamn]

alright last question... hopefully. What top mount sway bars will work for the front and rear?

[mastadamn]

www.rockauto.com Get the KYBs.

BTW Thanks, totally forgot about those guys. I think they order from our main warehouses. I work at Advantage Auto Value.

[Bert]

So Bert, only the front struts from the Rio will fit? And the Aspire all the way around is direct fit?

Early Rio front brakes are mostly a continuation of Aspire manufacture (I think someone here said the rotors and calipers even interchange) but they did change the sway bar setup and went with slightly thicker center rods on the struts plus add bearings in to the top hats. Rear suspension/brakes on Rios was entirely redesigned and cannot be used on a Festy. Safety Guy has installed Rio knuckles and struts on one of his cars so he'd be the guy to confirm all this.
Simplest by far is to stick with all Aspire goodies and then use the search feature about how to adapt Rio top hats on to Aspire/Festy struts. I personally am running all Aspire brakes and suspension and adapted-to-fit Rio top hats. Some of the more sophisticated-performance members here don't recommend swapping over to an Aspire sway bar but I sure do like mine.
Even if you don't have an Aspire brake swap ready to go you can install the Aspire springs and shocks/struts in advance.

[Gomez]

I have '02 Rio fr struts, knuckles, calipers, rotors, top hats, springs etc. etc. The only thing I did was cut the springs 1.5 coils to retain stock ride height (or very close to it anyway), and cut off any unused tabs and stuff. They are LOTS stiffer but I like it. Will go softer aftermarket adjustable coil overs when I redo my car though. The rear is straight up complete Aspire beam. Eventually will go with Charlie's modded KYB's or maybe Chris's air set-up and stiffer springs for the rear.

I like the above, and you will be sure to love any upgrade you decide on. Good luck

[jawbraeka]

ignore this please

[mastadamn]

So to revive the post with another question. I was reading applications on the wiki. I currently bought a escort lx gt clone frankenride. The guy gave me a ton of parts. I have the hub assembly and calipers from the escort. Will that swap over if I grab the knuckles from an Aspire or Escort? They are the same bore size correct? Because that will be one less thing I have to grab at the junkyard.

[Team Lightning]

All I have tried are from an Escort GT. The rotors won't fit but the calipers did. You can use the Master Cylinder from the GT but you have to plug the bottom ports. You could look at the one on the LX and see how it compares to the Gt one. Rockauto.com normally has photos with the parts. Not sure if the hubs on the front will fit into the Aspire knuckles, but I believe the splines are different on the Escort and the Aspire/Festiva hubs.

[joshua1706]

Where the escort gt calipers a direct bolt in?

[sketchman]

Yes. They don't have to be GT calipers either. You match the calipers to the rotors and they both bolt on to the Rio or Aspire knuckles.

The calipers I used came from a 1997 FORD ESCORT 2.0L.

[TominMO]

BTW, FWIW, Greg tells me that Capri calipers fit on Aspire knuckles/rotors too.

[sketchman]

Yes. They don't have to be GT calipers either. You match the calipers to the rotors and they both bolt on to the Rio or Aspire knuckles.

The calipers I used came from a 1997 FORD ESCORT 2.0L.

Need to correct myself here. I looked back at the parts I used and it was Escort calipers but Aspire rotors. I just went out and compared the Escort with the Festiva, and there is extra room at the top on the Festiva's between the caliper body and the edge of the rotor, but I don't know whether it's enough for another 1/2" of rotor, which would be the biggest that came on the Escort, 10.25". On the Escort (same calipers but the 10.25" rotors) there is nearly no room. Like the difference between getting the tip of your finger in the space and the rotor nearly touching the caliper.

Sorry about that.