aspire suspension swap questions

[monkeykiller1996]

i've looked through the forum and i cant find what im looking for, what i want to know is whats the difference between the festiva and aspire suspension does the aspire have better braking power or handling i know that the aspire has a more common wheel pattern also is a 14'' tire safe on the stock festiva suspension or should i do the swap to the aspire suspension thanks in advance

[joeboomer999]

Aspire system has better braking. Most say it also enables better handling due to the rear beam having a built in torsion bar but mr. Advancedynamics says this actually is not to (if i recall correctly) and thats oneman i wouldn't question about suspension lol.

[joeboomer999]

14" is fine with stock but id recommend a swap just for the braking (grab the MC And booster while your at it)

[monkeykiller1996]

the reason i ask is because theres an 95 aspire sitting in a junk yard close to me it would cost about 250 dollars(maybe a little more) for just the junk yard parts i need, i just wasn't sure if it was worth it to swap it , you know the whole pro's and con's thing lol

[wirebrain]

14" tires will work just fine with stock Festy rear suspension, but you have to watch the clearance between the lower spring perch and the tire. Depending on the rim/tire combination you may have to grind the perch for added Clearance between tire and perch or switch to Aspire rear shocks which have a higher perch. Also wheel spacers or relocating the lower shock mount(which I have done) with stock shocks are also a possibility.

[Festy46]

Here's another reason to switch to the Aspire suspension:

http://www.jmflumber.com/xtrafiles/Knuckle.jpg

We broke 2 steering knuckles using the Festiva suspension, but never broke an Aspire knuckle. Granted, these were broken while being abused in race conditions, but it's still good insurance in case you hit a lot of potholes.

[joeboomer999]

Also the aspire setup makes it a lot easier to replace your rotors

[1990new]

I have the Rio front and Aspire rear swap in Trixie.
The strut bearings from the Rio make steering a lot smoother.

[David88]

Wow. Catastrophic failure right there. Looks like the caliper may have been the only thing keeping it from complete separation.

[Movin]

Pretty cool carnage! Somebody must have really gripping that steering wheel . The festy stuff will generally last over a 100 k miles so the improvements for average use are none to minimal. Don't run your brakes to metal and ruin the rotors. However if you desire to drive recreationaly then the differences can be exploited to your advantage. My first steps for off hiway off road use were Aspire parts.

Kind of need to know what your driving intentions are before recommending a whole bunch of conversion. Your available shop and tools would be a consideration as well.

[Studebaker]

If the car is a keeper. Do the Aspire swap with Rio struts and top hat. Better braking better tires easier steering.

Also get the front seats if they are in good shape. Get the roller rocker arms and valve cover.

Lastly get the front sway bar and master cylinder. All from the Aspire.

[Powerstiva]

I have an aditional question since im going to be doing this swap soon as well, but is the MC and Brake Booster required to do the swap or is it just recomended?

[joeboomer999]

Not required no i have the swap in place with stock mc and booster works fine, is better to swap tho i have the aspire parts just been to lazy to bleed brakes lately

[fastivaca]

Don't bother with the Aspire front sway bar. The car actually handles better with the stock Festiva bar. When I initially did my Aspire swap I put in its sway bar. In addition to clearance issues I found that in spirited cornering the inside front wheel would lose traction. Went back to the Festiva bar and haven't regretted it.

[monkeykiller1996]

so from what im reading the best combo is aspire rear, hubs,tie rods and with rio struts but keep the festi sway bar but do i also swap the lower trailing arm (the part that connects from frame to lower hub) or keep the festi one also whats the aspire lug pattern i know the festi's is 4x4.5''