Aspire rear axel beam

[stefan]

OK. the only brake swap candidates ive found have been picked over... both are missing the drums exct. So in other words the bearings and the nut and washer ect are long gone. Basically all thats leaft is the axel/hubs and the brake lines. Would all the parts i need be aveable? I would get new drums/shoes/springs/wheel cylinders But would i be able to get the nut and all the parts for the bearings?

[monkeyracing]

Your local parts shop or brake supply place should have everything. The only thing that might be tricky is the springs, but I'm pretty sure they're available.

[Damkid]

you can buy a spring kit, there just as easy to get as pads, drums etc.

same with inner and outer wheel bearings, and i'm sure if you need the nuts they should be able to get those too, if not go to a J/Y and get them

[skeeters_keeper]

yea all that stuff, including the nuts, should be available. the festy rear nuts, and perhaps some aspire's, are stake nuts and are supposed to be replaced every time they are removed so those are readily available. I imagine even the cotter-pin type should be easy to find.

[bobstad]

Hey,

I'm pulling parts off of a '97 Aspire to do the brake swap on my '91 Festiva 5-speed, and now I'm wondering whether or not I need the springs from the Aspire, or if the Festiva Motor Sport lowering springs I bought will work with the Aspire rear axle beam in the Festiva? These springs are a vast improvement over stock, especially in the rear which used to be so flimsy the car was dangerous from all the wallowing even with metal spacers between the coils to make them stiffer.

I also already have 13" wheels from an '87 Mazda 323 I'm going to have to switch with those off of the Aspire. They cost $10 each so no huge investment except I got them painted to look cool, so I'm curious if a machine shop might be able to drill alternate holes for the Aspire spacing...like some custom wheels I've seen with eight lug nut holes to fit a variety of cars.

Getting the rear axle beam off of the Aspire wasn't too difficult, except right at the end I'd had to use a five pound sledge hammer to beat the floor-pan in a little to get the bolt on the left side out the whole assembley pivots on. I'm suprised a person has to switch the rear axles, but I'm wondering once this is done if I'll be able to use wider tires on the rear. I tried a pair on the Festiva rear axle which were over-sized and the ride was vastly improved, but they also rubbed on the top of the struts. Will this happen with the Aspire axle beam with tires wider than the 155/80R-13" tires I have now? And will the front-end clearance with the FMS lowering springs also allow for wider tires once I've installed all the Aspire parts?

[htchbck]

Bobstad, festiva springs will work fine. Also, I did get a little more clearance from the struts with the aspire rear beam. You can go with a wider tire that is not as tall and it shouldn't scrub as badly. I have one set of 205/60/R13s and one set of 185/60/R14s. The 13s scrub a little but they aren't hitting the strut, they are hitting the bottom of the fender. the 14s I have yet to be able to scrub them, but they probably would with a lot of weight in the back due to the fact that they are so tall (probably they would hit the inside of the wheel well)

[bobstad]

Tanx htchbck,

I'm also curious if the front anti-sway bar on that Aspire would fit my Festiva since the thing looks much more substantial...

There are all sorts of goodies on the Asprire which look worth grabbing if they'd fit. This is an automatic with air-conditioning apparently since there are two radiators and a couple of cooling fans. I'm definitely going to take the cover off of the timing belt since the Aspire's is pristine while mine is distorted from heat which was that way when I got the car 55,000 miles ago now.(June of '99)

I feel sorry for stefan who started this thread, since I got lucky and found a car with everything intact. All the bolts were even easy to loosen and remove.(!) I guess I still should put on new tie-rod ends and ball joints when I swap the front spindles, just to have everything new and not worry about anything for a very long time. I'm going to "kit" both the front calipers and rear brake cylinders and likely will renew the bearings if they look worn though if nothing seems the matter with them I guess I'll keep the old ones to save some money.(the wrecking yard here charged me $50 for the rear axle with drums and hoses, along with two wheels with driveable tires and also the spare...don't forget to get one of those stephan!)

[muscle_Car1]

I'm also curious if the front anti-sway bar on that Aspire would fit my Festiva since the thing looks much more substantial...

I dont think so because the control arms are a different size. (i.e larger)

[Safety Guy]

That's a no go on the Aspire front stabilizer bar.

Karl

[Pu241]

I'm also curious if the front anti-sway bar on that Aspire would fit my Festiva since the thing looks much more substantial...

I believe it has been done!

But, as pointed out the control armes are larger, and you would have to use the Aspire control arms. I don't know about the tie rod ends. In addition, you'd need to fab new front mounts for the anti sway bar as the old one wouldn't work.

I believe someone called this the "wide track" mod.

Not sure how this will affect the suspension or if it can/was compensated for, as the lower control arms are now longer but the strut mount wasn't moved outward.

I'll see if I can find it!
Might be on the yahoo site somewhere!

Pu241

[Silv3rBull3t]

It can be done but you do need new mounts for the chassis to sway bar mounts. And you also need Aspire axles for the extra width... I personally wouldn't do it. Not worth the hassle for the added gain of more understeer. -Kyle

[solatare]

yea, more bar up front makes for more push, jes find a way to stiffen the rear of the car and youll be fine.