Kia Rio front strut orientation

[WmWatt]

About to put on a pair of front struts I took off a Kia Rio last summer and can't remember which is right and which is left.
Can anyone post a hint or will it become obvious when I go to put them on?
Thanks.

[TominMO]

It'll be obvious. But IIRC the Festy flexible brake line will not fit into the bracket for it, so you will have to zip-tie it in or something.

[crazyrog17]

I don't know how different they could be but I didn't think twice when I put them on. Got them second hand from a meet a few years ago and put them on last summer. Yeah, I had to drill out the brake hose brackets for them to fit and they sit quite a bit higher than the stock rears.

[Bert]

Festy and Aspire hats are off centered (only goes on one way if you want them centered) but not so with Rio hats; they're centered irregardless. Struts themselves have the hose brackets at the back but then again there is only one way of securing the strut to the knuckle. I don't really think there is a right and a left.

[zoom zoom]

Both sets of OE rio struts ive gotten ahold of had LH and RH stamped on them, or something to that effect anyway.

[WmWatt]

When I went to put them on it was obvious which side from looking at the ones on the car. Thanks for the info.

Short story....
Last winter I wanted to clean them up, paint over the rust, and dab on some grease.
But I went to far taking them apart and one flew apart.
Apparently removing it from the car does not completely decompress the spring.
Missed me and just missed the furnace.
Today tried to use the weight of the car to recompress but too long to fit in wheel well so that one is at the garage now
getting put back together. Hope to install tomorrow.

[bravekozak]

That spring could have done some serious damage. I know of another lady who was helping her husband with the garage door spring when it whipped off and shattered the bones in her wrist. She has to wear a support for the rest of her life.

[Bert]

That's bad luck! How often have any and all of us taken compressed coil springs for granted. Assembled struts appear to be benign until such time that the lousy retaining bolt finally runs out of threads. And there is no warning and everything suddenly happens and powerfully fast.
Front struts with springs are assembled with a spring compressor in advance of projecting them up through the car body and installing the other two top hat nuts to secure the whole unit. But of course you know all that quite well now. Inexpensive hand-turned spring compressors work perfectly well for applications such as this and Princess Auto has them on sale regularly.

[zoom zoom]

Harbor freight 12$ spring compressors work good with our springs.

[Team Lightning]

I believe my KYB's for a Rio has LH and RH on them also. I use the Harbor Freight Spring Compressors too and they work good. Just keep them greased and pulling as straight as possible.

[WmWatt]

If this link works it*s a photo of the struts, one intact, one exploded view (literally)...

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j457/ag384fb/Festiva-KiaRioFrontStruts/102_0810_zps21f0c674.jpg

[WmWatt]

Instaled Rio struts this evening and it raises front end noticeable. Looks and feels like some sort of 60's muscle car. Unfortunately did not get rid of front end noise. I'm convinced it in the transmission because when I turn the wheels back and forth by hand I get the same noise I hear when driving, really loose sound from interaction of axles with transmission. Just can't convince anybody else who's looked at it.

[Bert]

I have entire car with Aspire fixins on it for sale currently. 5 speed in it is in great shape. $500 and she's yours.

[Bert]

Instaled Rio struts this evening and it raises front end noticeable.

You're gonna have to go back at it and remove the springs off those struts so as to be able to cut off at least one coil. I had to remove one coil (one full turn) off a set of Aspire springs in order to get my Festy to sit stock. In your case a Rio is an even heavier car than an Aspire! Contrary to popular opinion every time you cut off a coil the remainder becomes much stiffer to compress (ie affects the ride).

[WmWatt]

Thanks, Bert. Since I didn't notice a difference in noise with the Rio struts I'd put the originals back on if I keep the car. A mechanic who knows local suppliers with old stock is looking for Festiva struts. He still suspects struts rather than transmission. Apparently the Rios are weak with age and use. Someone did find Festiva struts out of town but the price was $115 each. Also thanks for the offer of the Festiva. I'll definitely keep it in mind if I can't keep the exsisting one on the road. Shame because I've kept it in such good shape and have become quite attached to it over the 25 years we've been together.

Also in response to an earlier post, the brake line coupling fit on one strut but I had to enlarge the opening on the other with a small grinding stone on my drill. Didn't take long at all. I did not want to use a nylon cable tie because it would leave the rubber brake line hose rubbing on the edge of the flange with the inevitable chaffing and eventual failure.