Trashed Rear Bearings

[RitzyFestiva]

Well I have been on several forums and on this one as well and I can not seem to find "HOW TO" write ups on modifications/repairs. There are plenty of people saying they have done this swap or that mod with some input to how much nicer it is or what ever but no real THIS is how to do it posts.

Here is the issue, my son had a great little white Festiva, 1988. Had an accident and ruined the front end. We found a replacement 1988 that was running and in decent shape but needed lots of work to be done, but it was running. He stripped the interiors of both cars, swapped them out and overcame some huge obstacles along the way including dashboard swap, steering colum swap, interior/headliner swap, doors, fenders well pretty much every thing. Finally got it put back together and still have some things to do but it was running and drivable. Then he called me the other day saying he had a slight problem ... seems he was hearing a weird noise from the rear and it just didn't seem to be driving very straight. He limped into this mother's and started checking the wheels and noticed that the right rear wheel seemed to be a bit crooked. He noticed the grease cup had been pushed out a bit too and was extremely hot to the touch. Well as luck would have it, he had the right rear wheel bearing seize. When I jacked the car up to investigate, the rear wheel procatically fell off the axle. We pulled the wheel off to see if we could get the drum off but it just did not want to come off. Finally was able to get the drum off along with alot of little pieces mixed in the grease. Seems the outer bearing has welded itself to the spindle so it's a loss.

Was able to remove the spindle but there is literally no way to salvage this thing with the limited tools I have. Next solution was to find all the parts need to replace the wheel bearings. Got all the parts form my local auto parts store to include both inner and outer bearings, seal, and wheel nut. Got enough for both sides. Came to just under $80. Now needed a spindle. Went out to our local wrecking yard and the only 1988/89 had both of the spindles stripped already. We found an Aspire with both hubs complete. We removed them thinking maybe they will fit. But after trying to fit them ot the 89 in the yard it was noted that the mounting studs match the lower holes but are too wide for the upper. I contemplated drilling out the holes larger to accept the Aspire hubs and spindles but investigation shows that the wheels are different spacing bewteen the Festiva and Aspire (yea) so that means the wheels and tires will not work on these hubs. I was also concerned about mounting the spindle/hub to the Festiva suspension after drilling the holes out in that I don't know if the attaching nuts would clear the inside of the suspension so they could be tightened. So even if they would mount up we still have the issue of the wheels.

The only other possible candiate was a 1991 Festiva which has been a donor car of sorts with doors, fender, interior trim, seats and hatch. The problem manifested itself when I attempted to remove the hubs and spindles. The spindle mounting studs are bigger as wellas the nuts that hold them. They upgraded them from a 14mm stud/nut to a 17mm stud/nut so no way it will fit in the 88 suspension.

So here are some questions. From what I can find, and what the wrecking yard guys tell me is that the rear suspensions between the Aspire and Festiva will not be a direct swap as the rear suspensiton mounts are not the same size or spacing. They mentioned that the Festiva suspensions are compatible between 88-93. does nayone know this for certain? Will it directly bolt up to the 88 frame? Has anyone done this? I will have to most likely get different bearingsas well but they can be traded for what is needed. I know it would just be simplier to just find another spindle but I can't find one.

I know this may seem like an extreme but I wnated to upgrade the spindles to a cotter pin type lock of the nut to the spindle, much cheaper to replace a cotter pin then the spindle nut. Trying to swap the Aspire hubs won't work as the stud spacing is different then the Festiva and requires getting new wheels, remounting tires rebalancing and all I can see is $$$ which neither my son nor I have right now. Locating a replacement spindle for his 88/89 has not been very sucessful as there just are not any in the wrecking yards.

Something to remember on these forums is that most people may know what they can or can't do and sometimes assume everyone else who has one of these vehicles knows how or understands what is needed to do these same things. This is not always the case. There are problems that are encountered or issues that are not understood by the novice or new owner. Even with mechnical abilities and understanding, alot of us don't have ready access to welding, cutting, special tools etc and getting information on how to do some of these is difficult to try to sort through all the posts trying to find what you really are looking for. Direct bolt up prjects are what is needed for some repairs and these forums are a treasure trove of information because of the people on here. So any help, suggestions recommendations and or directions of how to do it, links showing telling how to do it that have been posted would be huge. I have tried the search engine but I just can not find the information I need to quickly get his little car back on the road. Thanks

[phyaz91]

take the whole suspension/brake assy. from aspire Front and rear and put in festy...youll need new wheels

[htchbck]

As far as putting Aspire stuff on a festiva, the wrecking guys are right that the mounts are different sizes for the rear. However, the bolt holes on the part of the mount that goes to the body matches between the festiva and aspire. Meaning that as long as you get the WHOLE mount along with the rear beam, it will bolt right up to the festiva body (two 14mm bolts, one 17mm bolt). But like you said, that will require new wheels. The good news is that the Aspire uses the same bearings as the festiva, so if you do end up getting an Aspire beam, you can use the bearing parts already purchased to rebuild the Aspire bearings just like you would a festiva one

If you do end up staying with the festiva stuff, I'd recommend putting a [WTB] ad in the for sale/wanted section of this forum for a new (used) spindle and any other bits and pieces you need. I'm sure someone can hook you up. Some festivas also have the cotter pin type lock for the spindle nut instead of the stake nut. I don't know the details on which cars did and which cars didn't. I have a rear beam in my basement though that has the cotter pins. (sorry, not for sale, being rebuilt for wifey's car, but they do exist).

As for the '91 car with the 17mm mounting studs, are these the studs that hold the spindle/backing plate to the rear beam? I've never seen one with 17mm (seems like it would be difficult to even fit a 17mm through the holes in the beam) and I've torn apart a LOT of festivas over the years. Any change you could get a picture of it? Unless something aftermarket has been done, the brake parts for any year festiva 88-93 should fit any other festiva.

[Safety Guy]

Be aware that the "nuts" inside the Festiva brake backing holding it onto the axle are not removable, but are a part of the spindle assembly. The actual nuts to remove the spindle are accessed from the other side of the brake drum assembly, through access holes in the axle arm end at the lower strut mount.

I'm guessing this may account for the discrepancy? (I could be wrong. If so, sorry.)

Karl

[RitzyFestiva]

As far as putting Aspire stuff on a festiva, the wrecking guys are right that the mounts are different sizes for the rear. However, the bolt holes on the part of the mount that goes to the body matches between the festiva and aspire. Meaning that as long as you get the WHOLE mount along with the rear beam, it will bolt right up to the festiva body (two 14mm bolts, one 17mm bolt). But like you said, that will require new wheels. The good news is that the Aspire uses the same bearings as the festiva, so if you do end up getting an Aspire beam, you can use the bearing parts already purchased to rebuild the Aspire bearings just like you would a festiva one

So what I understand you to say is I can unbolt the entire rear carriage/suspension at the frame, where the suspension assembly "rotates" on the mounting bolt, unbolt it from the Aspire frame, and using the mounting bolts the Aspire suspension assembly will fit into the same mounts on the Festiva frame? If that is the case I still have the issue of having to replace the rear wheels as the hole pattern would not match the OEM steel wheels that have the tires mounted on. Negates any advantage, still have regular Festiva suspension and wheels on the front and would have to carry 2 spares until the fronts could be found and swapped as well. Also what about the struts? Will I have to also remove the Aspire struts and modify the Festiva to accept the Aspire struts?

Some festivas also have the cotter pin type lock for the spindle nut instead of the stake nut. I don't know the details on which cars did and which cars didn't. As for the '91 car with the 17mm mounting studs, are these the studs that hold the spindle/backing plate to the rear beam?

Yes, the 91 spindles use spindles with the hole. The spindle nut was the older style like needed on the 88. I may be mis-stating this but the nuts on the back side that hold the spindle to the hub/frame beam are larger on the 91 require a 17mm socket where the 88 spindle nuts are 14mm that hold the spindle. Also the studs themselves are physically larger in diameter as well. I will try to get some pics but I 'm pretty sure this unit was not modified, everything else on the rest of the car has been stock. We have pulled alot of parts off this unit for swapping into my son's 88. I could ask them about the rear beam assembly as this would retain the wheel stud spacing for mounting the OEM wheels and tires. It would involve diconnecting brake lines and a few other things but it would have the holes in the spindles.

I've never seen one with 17mm (seems like it would be difficult to even fit a 17mm through the holes in the beam) and I've torn apart a LOT of festivas over the years. Any chance you could get a picture of it? Unless something aftermarket has been done, the brake parts for any year festiva 88-93 should fit any other festiva.

Yeah thats what I understand about the "brakes" but we are talking about the bearings and spindle so that could have been modified by Ford to make it more sturdy. Only reason I could see for them to make the studs larger. I will check with an auto parts store to see if the bears called out on the 91 are the same as for the 88.

Be aware that the "nuts" inside the Festiva brake backing holding it onto the axle are not removable, but are a part of the spindle assembly. The actual nuts to remove the spindle are accessed from the other side of the brake drum assembly, through access holes in the axle arm end at the lower strut mount. I'm guessing this may account for the discrepancy? (I could be wrong. If so, sorry.)
Karl

Yes I fully understand about what you are saying great safety tip but in this case I have already removed 3 sets of these from axle beams on the rear. We do have a factory shop manual as well and that has helped but it could be easily misunderstood as to which side are the nuts and which sides are the head of the studs. The "nuts" I am talking about are from the back side of the brake flange, you have to remove the bolt holding the strut to the rear suspension in order to get to one of the lower nuts. The other "nuts" you just described are in fact not nuts at all but the heads of the splined studs that then fit onto the rear suspension. Thanks for the heads up

[TominMO]

It will be worth carrying the extra spare for a little while, until you can get Aspire front brakes on. The Aspire struts will swap over, or you can use the Festiva struts, your choice. One thing better about the Aspire rear struts is that they have a higher spring perch (what the bottom of the spring sits in), allowing you to use wider rims/taller and wider tires should you ever decide to do so. This will aso give you access to actual high-quality tires from 13 - 15", an important consideration.

By all means do the full Aspire brake swap, hopefully including master cylinder (altho it's not needed). But at least do the rear axle beam for starters.

Aspires use the 4x100 wheel bolt pattern, which is much more common than 4x114.3 BTW, so you can more easily find nice wheels in the JY.