Forester grille guard?

[jonathan909]

As discussed (OT) in another thread, deer have wiped out two Foresters (1999 and 2002) for us this year.  As nice as the insurance settlements were, I'm really not interested in going through all that again.  So, for the newest (2001), I'd like to get a hardcore grille guard, something like this.  I found the pic online via another forum, but there was no information on who manufactured it.  Can anyone offer any leads?

 

[GeneralDisorder]

That really won't do much against a deer. It would still total a 2001. It's too old and a deer hit is going to shove that right into the core support and then you'll just have crushed brush guard embedded in the front end. You hit a deer with anything over 10 years old like that and it's toast. When they hit 75% of value they just write em off. We deal with insurance and body work all the time. I see it a lot. 

GD

[jonathan909]

Perhaps so, but I'd be willing to give it a try anyway - certainly couldn't make it worse.  And in the event that the strike isn't head-on, but the kind of just-clipped that would take out a headlight and its immediate surroundings, it might actually help by deflecting the foul thing to the side.

[heartless]

my guess is it was custom fabricated. (ie: not cheap)

I wouldn't mind having one myself, for my 2002 Foz, just because - but yeah, not really going to do much in the way of "protecting" the car in a full on deer collision.

 

[el_freddo]

 

http://www.subaxtreme.com/product-category/forester/

This would be the bar to have. Expensive even over here - and getting ANYTHING out of Oz is an arm and a leg price exercise. But I’ve heard of at least one other in the US doing it. 

I doubt you’d have much left from $5G once fitted - but you’d be the envy of all your mates and other Forester drivers too. 

And they’re fully airbag compliant.

Cheers 

Bennie

[GeneralDisorder]

You give that thin-gauge tubing too much credit. Those are for looks, or going through brush on the trails. I could bend the crap out of that little thing by hand. It might actually do more damage because instead of the soft (ish) deer flesh and fur you get a hammer and nail effect with the gap between the guard and the body. 

GD

[jonathan909]

16 hours ago, el_freddo said:

 

http://www.subaxtreme.com/product-category/forester/

This would be the bar to have. Expensive even over here - and getting ANYTHING out of Oz is an arm and a leg price exercise. But I’ve heard of at least one other in the US doing it. 

I doubt you’d have much left from $5G once fitted - but you’d be the envy of all your mates and other Forester drivers too.

I don't know how you could describe the prices for those things other than "barmy".  Spending five times (5X) what the vehicle cost for this frill is just not on.

[el_freddo]

1 hour ago, jonathan909 said:

I don't know how you could describe the prices for those things other than "barmy".  Spending five times (5X) what the vehicle cost for this frill is just not on.

When the vehicle was near new it wasn’t so crazy. They do come up on gumtree and eBay second hand from time to time at a much better price. Plus they’re the best looking bar you can get  

The other thing to do is modify another vehicle’s bullbar. A few over here have used a Toyota Hilux arb bar on their Imprezas and libertys (legacy) with good results. I believe they cut the bar to pull each “side wings” back to match the shape of the frontnof the vehicle. 

That’s probably your best option as it would be cheap and get the job done in the event you hit another deer. 

Cheers 

Bennie

[GeneralDisorder]

We have people that spend more than that on lift, tires, and wheels on their brand new Subaru's all the time. Like weekly. 

GD

Edited December 27, 2018 by GeneralDisorder

[jonathan909]

Fwiw, I think anyone who buys a new car has stripped some threads.  And it isn't just cheap SOBs like me who hold that opinion; read Warren Buffet's view of the subject.

[GeneralDisorder]

I don't disagree. For entirely different reasons though. The new stuff isn't supported for long enough to keep it around as long as I want to keep cars. Anything from about 2005/6 or so for Subaru's is out of the question. The electronics are not suitable for long term ownership. They suck, and are already being phased out for support. Too much nanny state and canbus crap. Just not robust enough for me. I'm headed the opposite direction and buying older vehicles that are now "collectible" and so are having parts reproduced due to high demand and high initial production numbers. These vehicles have had their "problems" corrected long ago and are simple with maybe one computer on board if that. These computers are simple, robust, and they made tens of millions of them. Plus they have been reverse engineered to the point that every detail is known about their operation and software. I see what happens to the newer cars all the time. I want no part of it personally. 

GD

[jonathan909]

That seems to be a growing sentiment.  I did a bit of a garage cleanout last summer, and the chap who came out to relieve me of a bunch of disused Jeep parts was an HVAC tech who used to be a mechanic - and who switched trades for exactly the reasons you articulated.

So if you don't mind my asking, what are you collecting?

Edited December 28, 2018 by jonathan909

[GeneralDisorder]

90's and older GM products. Chevy Small Block powered mostly. Plenty of power, good economy if setup correctly, crazy cheap parts, and almost unmatched reliability. More aftermarket support than any other platform ever made in the history of automobiles. I have a bluetooth adapter and an android app to interface with my 1986 Trans Am's factory Tuned Port Injection computer. I recently upgraded its ECU to a modified version that allows real time tuning, has self learning VE and spark tables, 8 maps that can be switched on the fly with a full heads up display on a Windows tablet..... find anything for a 1986 Subaru.... yeah you can't because nothing exists and never will. And nothing even exists for that 01 Forester. 

And I can buy any part I want for the car. More stuff comes out all the time. The reproduction market for third gen F body's is hot. Same goes for my 69 GMC truck. I can literally buy every single part for it out of a catalog. 

GD

[el_freddo]

Consumerism and the built in disposability of products at its “best”  

I too like the older vehicles, but unlike Yu guys in the US with your large market, most of our locally produced vehicles are all but gone due to the (typically) Japanese vehicle makers doing a real push for their models of vehicles in the ‘80s. That effort paid off and now older cars from that era are hard to find in the parts yards or the second hand trade sites. Forget about a locally produced 80s vehicle being in the yard, and no one other than nostalgic cashes up baby boomers can afford the asking price of a decent locally produced ‘80s vehicle. Even then they don’t drive it regularly. 

Consider yourself lucky in that department GD. The Subaru seems to have lots of parts still available, moreso the ‘90s EJ platform over the ‘80s stuff. No reproduction parts yet or any of that “voodoo” app stuff but you never know... There are plenty of brumbys still available and they’re holding their value, if not already climbing, plus they’re one of the longest running models over here (82-92 I believe).  About ten years ago you’d be lucky to find five nation wide for sale on trading post or gumtree, now it’s basically take your pick!

Cheers 

Bennie

[jonathan909]

GD:

I get it - the stuff we talk about here is pure practicality for me:  Cheap, easy and fun to work on, good parts availability and interchangeability, good fuel economy 4WD (since we live out in the country and actually need it), and a platform I've really been enjoying learning about for the past few years.  I understand what you're talking about, and it's interesting that there's reasonably high aftermarket tech available for the older rides you're working on.  Me, I do embedded systems, so I'm entirely comfortable with that stuff, but for fun I want low tech - the hobby ride I'm working on at the moment is a '64 Rambler Classic.  This one came with a 196 (straight six), but it's going to get upgraded to (an AMC) 327, and rather than upgrading the electronics, the plan is to find an old tube car radio to replace the stock transistorized AM of the era.  If I can pull that off, there's a set of vanity plates in my future: EMP HARD.

[GeneralDisorder]

Yeah I play with that stuff too. I maintain my mom's fully restored 56 Buick Roadmaster. I'm probably going to put FiTech on it though. The Edelbrock works pretty good, but I really want to put fuel injection on the 322 Nailhead. 

The beauty of the 80's and 90's GM stuff is that any and all parts are available cheap including stand-alone aftermarket control systems and computers. So really they will never be obsolete in my lifetime. Holley and dozens of other companies sell and support decades of products that partially or fully replace the factory electronics and even sell entire new wiring harnesses for these vehicles. I can buy a legit brand new bumper-to-bumper chassis harness for my truck. And everything that connects to it. Many of the software products are open-source or like in the case of my 86's factory computer I can download the ROM files, including fully commented HAC's of the source code, and modified versions for wideband O2 sensors, etc. 

For EMP you just need everything that's vulnerable inside a Faraday cage. But most of these older 80's electronics aren't actually that vulnerable to EMP because the integrated chip die packages were so large they won't burn out easily. But it's also pretty easy to keep spares locked away since the only real electronics that matter are the ECM and the ignition module inside the distributor.

GD  

[jonathan909]

Sure... I'm pretty familiar with Faraday cages.  The photo below is me inside the discharge electrode (that sphere is about 2m in diameter) of a 10m-tall, multi-megavolt Tesla coil, taking measurements.  The coil now lives in New Zealand.

But you're a little off wrt the EMP stuff.  First, the IC package size isn't actually much of a factor; if anything, a larger package (with a bigger lead frame and longer interconnects) provides a greater length conductor for the pulse to induce a current in, which is worse than a smaller one.  But the issue is less the interconnect and packaging than it is the size of the junction on the die.  The smaller it is, the less voltage is needed to destroy it, CMOS traditionally being the most susceptible because you just have to punch a hole in the oxide - or, for that matter, induce latchup (and then the heat from the short-circuit will burn it out for you).  But I was talking about a radio, which you can't put in a Faraday cage - at least, not if you want to listen to anything - because the input signal has gotta get in, and that antenna is gonna carry the pulse directly to your high-gain front end.  And if it's a semiconductor junction - even a normal bipolar one - BOINK!

 

[GeneralDisorder]

Interesting....so how does the Air Force EMP harden Air Force 1 and still send/receive radio transmissions? 

One could suppose that very few radio stations will be transmitting after an EMP.....

GD

Edited December 29, 2018 by GeneralDisorder

[jonathan909]

1. I don't have any direct experience with that sort of design, but I expect with an excess of specialized circuitry meant to absorb/dissipate the pulse energy, and/or circuits that slam the door shut (i.e. isolate the antenna from the input stage) for the duration of the pulse - really fast stuff.  Also, there's that whole 1/r^3 thing that helps out a lot at altitude.  And on the ground, well, EMP is about their last concern.

2. Surprisingly, they're probably rather more immune than you might think, since high-power RF transmitter output stages are still to a large extent the province of vacuum tubes.  Of course, just because the transmitter still works doesn't mean you're going to hear anything, because it's the most rugged component in the signal chain.  The STL (Studio-Transmitter Link) is usually solid-state microwave, so it probably won't survive.  Nor will your radio's input stages.  So it's all going to be a scattershot mess of stuff that's working and not.

Edited December 29, 2018 by jonathan909

[impostor]

Well that escalated quickly.

Now I'm gonna spend the next two hours lost in the world of Wikipedia, starting with what the hell a Faraday cage is!

[jonathan909]

Ummm... sorry about that.  If  you think that got OT, you should join my pals and me for coffee tomorrow morning!

Short version:  A Faraday cage is why I could stand inside a ball made from rings of stainless tubing and radiating a couple of million volts of RF energy without getting zorched - what's outside doesn't get inside.  Pretty cool, huh?

Now, back to our regular scheduled programming...

Edited December 31, 2018 by jonathan909

[el_freddo]

Can you use a couple of Forester grilles to make a faraday cage?

Cheers 

Bennie

[jonathan909]

No - too hard to find.  Probably have better luck using Faraday cages to make Forester grilles.