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Originally posted by Safety Guy
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Regarding Rio rear brakes and suspension:
I think I once checked out the brake backing plates of Rios to compare with Aspires and the bolt pattern/measurements did not match. Since the brake drums themselves looked very similar, I had hoped that we could take newer rear drum assemblies off Rios. Although I may not have done this properly, I doubt they will work, unless someone can come up with a good mod. Remember, this is in reference to the spindle bolt pattern. I don't think they match.
Rio rear springs? If someone has used them, then okay. I'll try to grab a pair when I can to compare with Aspire/Festiva rear springs.
As for Rio front ends and possibly other parts, the first (and easiest) thing to do would be to go to Rockauto.com and begin part number matching. Rockauto also has the cutoff date for Rio front strut mounts and brake parts (IIRC it's 7/'02 when the front end changes were made).
This begs the question:
Since I used early Rio brake calipers on my Festiva (calipers, pads and rotors are same as auto Aspire), how much of the front end was changed in late '02? Will the newer brake calipers bolt onto Aspire knuckles? Someone needs to try that. It is possible the Rio went to a knuckle redesign though, so it may not work. I do know from looking at control arms, the Rio went from CAs that looked similar to Aspire (but not the same) to arms that had two body mounting points (IIRC) instead of one. The dual front stabilizer bar setup has always been different, too. I doubt any Rio control arms are usable without extensive fabrication.
Early Rio front hubs may be a different story. I believe Jim has found that they appeared to be the same but had slightly different tie rod mounting measurements. This may not be a problem if we can find tie rods and tie rod ends to use for adjusting to Festiva/Aspire spec.
The big thing about Rios is not just "bigger, better" parts, but also "newer" and "more common" parts. Compare the newest Aspire stuff (1997) at about 14 years old to the earliest Rio stuff (2001) at only nine years old and you see what I mean.
Now we also see that engines, halfshafts and transaxles may open up some new swaps or mods. The engines are one key to this, but in an unexpected way: the Rio 1.5 and 1.6 DOHC design is an interference one; that is, when the timing belt fails the pistons eat the valves and that's why there are plenty of non-running Rios sitting around driveways and in junkyards. Apparently, good used Rio engines have gotten expensive and folks simply can't afford the several thousand dollars it would take to have a mechanic install a used, running Rio engine. As a result, we benefit!
Methinks there is a lot more we can do with Rio parts, and possibly, some other early Kia models as well. The exploration has begun...
Karl
I think I once checked out the brake backing plates of Rios to compare with Aspires and the bolt pattern/measurements did not match. Since the brake drums themselves looked very similar, I had hoped that we could take newer rear drum assemblies off Rios. Although I may not have done this properly, I doubt they will work, unless someone can come up with a good mod. Remember, this is in reference to the spindle bolt pattern. I don't think they match.
Rio rear springs? If someone has used them, then okay. I'll try to grab a pair when I can to compare with Aspire/Festiva rear springs.
As for Rio front ends and possibly other parts, the first (and easiest) thing to do would be to go to Rockauto.com and begin part number matching. Rockauto also has the cutoff date for Rio front strut mounts and brake parts (IIRC it's 7/'02 when the front end changes were made).
This begs the question:
Since I used early Rio brake calipers on my Festiva (calipers, pads and rotors are same as auto Aspire), how much of the front end was changed in late '02? Will the newer brake calipers bolt onto Aspire knuckles? Someone needs to try that. It is possible the Rio went to a knuckle redesign though, so it may not work. I do know from looking at control arms, the Rio went from CAs that looked similar to Aspire (but not the same) to arms that had two body mounting points (IIRC) instead of one. The dual front stabilizer bar setup has always been different, too. I doubt any Rio control arms are usable without extensive fabrication.
Early Rio front hubs may be a different story. I believe Jim has found that they appeared to be the same but had slightly different tie rod mounting measurements. This may not be a problem if we can find tie rods and tie rod ends to use for adjusting to Festiva/Aspire spec.
The big thing about Rios is not just "bigger, better" parts, but also "newer" and "more common" parts. Compare the newest Aspire stuff (1997) at about 14 years old to the earliest Rio stuff (2001) at only nine years old and you see what I mean.
Now we also see that engines, halfshafts and transaxles may open up some new swaps or mods. The engines are one key to this, but in an unexpected way: the Rio 1.5 and 1.6 DOHC design is an interference one; that is, when the timing belt fails the pistons eat the valves and that's why there are plenty of non-running Rios sitting around driveways and in junkyards. Apparently, good used Rio engines have gotten expensive and folks simply can't afford the several thousand dollars it would take to have a mechanic install a used, running Rio engine. As a result, we benefit!
Methinks there is a lot more we can do with Rio parts, and possibly, some other early Kia models as well. The exploration has begun...
Karl
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