Rio strut question

[drddan]

Can someone tell me how much, in inches, Rio struts will raise my Festy? I am right now putting on some "new to me" stuts. I have both, Aspire, and Rio, front struts.
Was to put on the Aspire's, but I would really like to know how it will sit to put in the Rio struts right now? Without modding the springs. bhazard posted that his Rio's (unmodded) raised it too much and had axle issues. I would rather put in the Rio's, but I dont want to harm anything. I have 14" rims/tires, so I would like some lift, say, 1 inch ???? Help. My Festy is jacked up, with 1 front strut off, awaiting a decision.

[perucho]

I would definitely use the Rio struts but with cut springs. Any reason why you don't want to cut them? I would measure the distance from the bottom perch to the top hat with the stock spring installed, the remove the spring and cut it so that it's just longer than the distance from the perch to the hat. That way you won't have weird clunking sounds, and the car would sit lower.

[drddan]

Well, i'm in a little bit of a crunch mode, as I want to do this one time, and need it to drive to work in the morning. I want the stiffness of the Rio's, so my tires quit hitting the fenders on road dips. Was in process of putting on the Aspire struts, but I really want the Rios. I gots big tires. I stopped to ask the above question. I plan on modding the Rios in a week or so, if the springs absolutely need modded.
If not, I want to put the Rios on now

[Nerd Racing]

hmm interesting, the RIO gear fits aspires without modding in the front anyway...

[drddan]

Rio gear? Talkin struts. Some say I need to cut the rio spring or the car will sit too high.

[bhazard]

Throw a Rio strut in, you'll see how much it raises.

[lessersivad]

From wikipedia,

Gear: a term for equipment or apparel, particularly for motorcycle safety clothing, musical equipment and cargo (original meaning)

In other words, it's slang for pieces/parts.

[drddan]

Oh yea... I was thinkin Gear like tranny gears!

[perucho]

If you have spring compressors and a metal cutting wheel on a grinder, cutting the springs won't take long. Definitely something you can do in a couple of hours (including installing the struts).

[drddan]

Hey, got my struts on! Actually I put both the Rio and and the Aspire struts on to see for myself how they sit. Put on the Rio's first, lift was about 2 inches, maybe a tad more. Too much, but it let me see how much I need to cut off the springs. I still want some lift above stock Festy height, so I figure cutting 1 to 1 1/2 coils should do it.
After that I put on the Aspire struts. Sit exactly at right height, and is quite a bit stiffer than the Festy struts. Still goin' with the Rio's later as I liked how stiff they were and still a nice ride with less body roll.
My rumble/thumping noise is gone too!
Thanks all, the info was invaluble.
Perucho, I do have a die grinder with cutoff wheel. Ill probably use the "loan a tool" at parts store for the spring compressor.