plz help mechanic question

[Mustangman16]

I thought that the 02+ Rio's had a sealed bearing? The Rio also has studs 4x100 but a three bolt strut.
What about drive shaft splines? and as stated in an earlier post the tie rod and ball joint?
I plan on making a trip to the JY in the near future to figure all this out, with pictures!

[Bert]

I thought that the 02+ Rio's had a sealed bearing? The Rio also has studs 4x100 but a three bolt strut.
What about drive shaft splines? and as stated in an earlier post the tie rod and ball joint?
I plan on making a trip to the JY in the near future to figure all this out, with pictures!

Life gets more complicated when you try to adapt stuff, but I'm told it is eminently do-able and has been done a number of times already (Safety Guy, for one) with 2 bolt strut-origin Rio goodies (00-02 models). Axle spline count should be good as is but I cannot personally confirm that. Phoenix SHO has performed a 3 bolt strut-derived front knuckle/hub/brake conversion (04 Rio? which is taller and has even more robust brakes) and has posted about it on here too. Wait for these guys to chime in.
For sure you will want to install whatever tie-rods were off the donor piece on to your Festy when all this happens. Aspire tie-rods and Festy units may look the same, but take it from me, they ain't and Rios are in that same ballgame.
Rios were not blessed with sealed bearing units in the earlier years, and for all I know still aren't made in any sort of engineering-sensible manner.

[pgtim]

to think i just did not know but i get home and park thefesty in the garage next to my wifes car that just happens to be an 01 kia rio lol maybei could steal her parts...but really what i want to do is be able to get rid of the preload spacers should i put a kia setup in there i have been driving without the spacer installed bering shouldgo soon. new strut new stering components what would be the best fit dont want to mod anything...

[nitrofarm]

to think i just did not know but i get home and park thefesty in the garage next to my wifes car that just happens to be an 01 kia rio lol maybei could steal her parts...but really what i want to do is be able to get rid of the preload spacers should i put a kia setup in there i have been driving without the spacer installed bering shouldgo soon. new strut new stering components what would be the best fit dont want to mod anything...

First off welcome to the forum.Secondly how do you know the "Brake tech" left out the spacer? And if its true why isnt this tech being held accountable for a HUGE mistake? Third what do you mean by "Mod" ???? 4th if you go with an Aspire or Rio knuckle you now just changed your wheel bolt pattern on the front end drool. 5th yes you can buy the spacers for very cheap @ KIA. 6th you need to do some research on your problem that the brake tech created & make a decision. People can tell you all day long what to do.And the more you listen the more you'll second guess yourself. Until you research all your options you're gonna be second guessing yourself. I'm assuming if he left one side out he left both out. If your lucky you can find a "experienced" mechanic who knows these Hubs & has spacers available to set up the preload. Hard to say........ Or if your lucky you can find a Festy that will let you have its knuckles so you can keep your stock wheel bolt pattern.Bottom line is the "Brake Tech" created an issue that can easily be solved by the right person. Or created a problem thats gonna be a HUGE headache for a novice. Sorry to be so blunt but it is what it is. You could also try posting an add in the WTB thread for some Festy knuckles/Hubs. Good Luck,& once again welcome to the Festy Family!Thomas-

[pgtim]

just before shipping off to my dad in cali i take to tranny shop for a new clutch....get a call like 2hours after dropping off excuse me sir there is nothing wrong with the clutch....??? ok clutch has alot of miles on it just put a new one in its called preventitive maintenace....ok thats now done take to brake shop i would new brakes please ok again phone call like 2 hrs later sir your rotors an pads a fine....ok go ahead and make them like new again so dad gets car with 100,000 new clutch and new brakes....60,000 later dad has issue in cali with right front bearing takes to shop tell him its missing the right bearing spacer so if the brake shop missed it then my bad but really i have no proof he didnt put it on but it was there when i had the brakes done so do the math.. but the real question was just really what to do with the front spacers are most cars being made today coming with preload spacers on the bearings or is there abolt on replacement with out the spacers just checking options....looks to me the new fiestas by ford will prob have same parts as a festy will wait and see...

[WmWatt]

When I did my front bearings I bought a pair of front wheel assemblies off a car at a junk yard and rebuilt those then used them to replace the ones on the car. That way I got to keep driving the car while I figured out how to rebuild the ones from the junk yard. Photos of theproject are at http://www.photobucket.com/Festiva-frontwheel

[nitrofarm]

^pgtim there are no cars being produced these days that have the Festy style spacers. The Feista is not even close....so basically the choices you have are spelled out in post#19