Roo damage to a Subie?

taza · Post by **taza** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 10:58 pm

Firstly no I haven't hit a roo in the Foz or in any kinda car. I just have a question/discussion on what is salvageable from a wrecked Subie after a kangaroo, animal, tree or pole stike.

My mate Dave and I were discussing what the damage caused would be and what would be salvageable if you hit a roo pretty hard (ie. 110km/hr or 120km/hr) in a Subie bullbar or not. The car would most probably be a write off but certain parts could be salvaged and used in other car.

Dave(Davadov) reckons everything would pretty much be f**ked like the whole drivetrain, lift blocks, springs, motor, all electrics(inc. wirring loom, speedo, aircon, stereo, uhf, gps,etc..). Pretty much the lot except for a few body panels and interior plastics, seats and the likes.

I made my argument that pretty much the front end from the windshield to the front of the car would be stuffed. I reckon some of the rear drivetrain and suspension work would be ok. Like rear springs, strut lift blocks, towbar, body panels, stereo system, uhf, and other interior parts aswell as body panels of course the airbags would go off and the dash possibly cracked, engine, radiator and most of the engine bay stuffed but some probably repairable.

What do you guys think? Would the electrics not be able to handle the pressure of instant stopping or not? Has anyone had any experience?

I know a few guys with newer Forester and Outbacks (niterida on here) have hit them at 70-90km/hr but with Subaxtrmee bullbars and only had slight damage like the bar being slightly bent and/or pushed back.

Any thoughts or experiences?

I will say that this comes under the travelling section.

Cheers
Taza

niterida · Post by **niterida** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:11 pm

Well I would guess that if I didn't have my SubaExtreme bar on when I hit that roo then the car would be a write-off. I hit him dead centre of the car and I would say that would have farked the whole grille, radiators, and engine (probably would have smashed the cam gears and hence mr piston meet miss valve). some suspension parts may be damaged but probably not - if I had hit off to the side then more likely to dmage suspension bits. Rear end of the car would have been fine - electrics should be ok. Unless it was a WRX or something that had a lot of goodies on it it certainly wouldn't be worth buying for parts or to fix it up IMHO.

Thank goodness for the bar - and I was thinking of removing it a week or so before I hit that roo.....

Post by **Alex** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:36 pm

Nah a normal roo would just smash headlights, dent bonnet etc. Prolly stuff the radiator. The rest of the car would be fine.

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niterida · Post by **niterida** » Wed Nov 16, 2011 11:51 pm

Alex wrote:Nah a normal roo would just smash headlights, dent bonnet etc. Prolly stuff the radiator. The rest of the car would be fine.

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Not this one - hit him doing 100kmh - didn't even have a chance to brake - the Suba Extreme bar is bent in the middle and pushed back about 50mm - have you seen how strong those bars are made ?? Car got absolutely covered in blood

I have no doubt car would have been farked if it dodn't have a bar.

d_generate · Post by **d_generate** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:55 am

I've hit quite a few over the years, worst was in my mates 3 week old TC Cortina doing around 130 which destroyed the bonnet, lights, rad & support but still towable, others have done damage but always managed to keep going even if there was a small hole in the radiator, I'd say a Subi would cope much the same and still be towable & repairable.

Post by **TOONGA** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:37 am

It truely depends on the age of the car. the older the car the thicker the steel it is made of and the more resistant the crumple zones are.

Having a bar of some sort will lessen the damage to a car to a degree, as long as the animal decides to hit it and not the side (cow / horse) or bonnet / windscreen of the car (camel)

Air bags are another factor as well, replacing those can be expensive if they deploy on impact.

I would way rather hit a roo in my brumby, than in my wifes 2010 Forester. Mostly because of the big chunk of steel that is on the front of my brumby

but as well because of the billions of air bags in wifeys forester that could deploy on impact.

TOONGA

Post by **Alex** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:44 am

my neighbour owns a trucking company, they had just had a brand new 'bullbar' fitted to one of their car carrier trucks. 20grands worth. First drive up to exmouth i think it was, the truckie was coming over a crest and pumped two camels. Wrote off the bar, but the truck was fine.

imagine hitting a camel in a normal car!

Davidov · Post by **Davidov** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:47 pm

I know of someone who hit a camel in a car, was killed instantly. Was like hitting a brick wall.

purp · Post by **purp** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:32 pm

When I was a kid my Mum drove a Mitsubishi 4wd van with a good solid steel bullbar. She collected a massive 'roo one night. Bent the bullbar substantially, all the way back to do minor pannel damage to the front of the vehicle. There was no shock damage to anything else though.

From friends experiences with immovable objects like poles and trees thought, they are a whole different issue.

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:53 pm

damage is gonna vary depending on whether you hit a boy or a girl too !

Whatever happened to those energy absorbing Aunger bars that sprung the beast back to roughly where he came form (and then some more

)

Solid roo bars can bend whatever they mount to - not easily seen until a Car-o-liner type set up is used to make critical measurements

You ask a question a bit like how long is a piece of string !

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:28 pm

Well this is a total hypothetical isn't it??

Really there are so many factors it's not funny. I've hit a small roo in Ruby Scoo head on at 110km/h, I bent my roo bar and damaged a guard as it went under the car, my biggest problem was controlling the car after it went under...

The other thing that can happen is them coming through the windscreen, this means a low survival rate for the occupants. A guy over here in a Disco died from roo kicking around in the cab after it came through the windscreen. Poor fella.

I don't see why the wiring would be a problem after a stack. The engine might have some damage and the extent of this really depends on the force of the impact.

Cheers

Bennie

MTB92 · Post by **MTB92** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:42 pm

i know its obvious, but the size of the roo would have a massive effect. so i dont think you can actually pin point the damage.

I think the damage is amplified by the bigger roos. As in the small ones you hit do a bit of damage and roll under, where as you hit a boomer in the legs and then it flicks up and joins you behind the wheel is when you are in strife. its normally the bigger ones that flick up, coz its caused by hiting their legs which you just dont do to the little ones.

also, its not beyond the realms that after hiting a biggy that flicks into the car it could be driven home. would you still say it has done less damage if it can be driven, but an occupant of the car is killed?

taza · Post by **taza** » Thu Nov 17, 2011 11:45 pm

But to put the basis down hitting a roo in a small Subaru of medium to big size will likely f**k the car over, possibly write off. You may or may not die depending whether it comes through the window or not. You may also loose control and possibly crash too after the impact of the b@stard!

Most if not all of the rear end of the car will be fine if you hit it with no accident ; ie. rolling the car. But the front end possibly engine included may be r00ted. Most probably thought the radiator and body damage. Plus if its in the dead centre the airbags if any probably won't go off.

Good to know, just wanted to clarrify a few things.

A bullbar or roobar will help take the impact and spread the remaining pressure accross the front end of the car but depending on the roo, camel or animal it may be fine or stuffed.

One of my dads mates died hitting a camel on his Harley doing 170km/hr from Adelaide to Alice Springs. Atleast it would of been an instant death.

TOONGA, wouldn't you rather hit one in your wifes foz? So what if its a write off. Better that and it be stuffed while you and your family alive possibly 100% fine. Or your brumby which would probably just crumple and if well rusted fall to bits.... They have a 5 star safety rating for good reason :P

Just my 2 cents worth though.

Taza

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:23 pm

taza wrote:Just my 2 cents worth

On your own thread! Classic

Cheers

Bennie

Post by **TOONGA** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:54 pm

taza wrote:
TOONGA, wouldn't you rather hit one in your wifes foz? So what if its a write off. Better that and it be stuffed while you and your family alive possibly 100% fine. Or your brumby which would probably just crumple and if well rusted fall to bits.... They have a 5 star safety rating for good reason :P

Just my 2 cents worth though.

Taza

Taza relax... I would still rather hit a roo in my brumby (on my own) if it fell apart around me so be it. If you haven't seen the big chunk of steel on the front of my brumby here ya go

and that's after this happened

the roo bar (it is technically a bull bar) broke the encapsulated nuts off the chassis and never skipped a beat, ask RSR he dodged the bits that came off PJ as he took the photo...

The reason we got the forester is for its safety, reliability and economy.

My wife has had first hand experience of roo near miss recently and the reason she survived, is because I told her not to swerve but to brake and steer in a straight line. the roo bounced past her and she stopped and rang me. needless to say she sat on the shoulder for a good 10 minutes before she started driving again.

My family travels safely in the forester, I have adventures in PJ

TOONGA

NachaLuva · Post by **NachaLuva** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:57 pm

Hypothetical questions are a great way to pass the time as you can see by the variety of answers here.

IMO lol, I think the 3 big factors for the amount of recoverable "bits" is the size of the roo, the speed at impact & of course whether a roobar is fitted & what type. Many others factors like angle/height of impact, age/type of vehicle, & that bastard Murphy all play a role.

I cant see why suspension esp lift blocks would be damaged (presuming no accident), or the driveline, excepting possibly the engine if no roobar, & only the front part of the wiring would be damaged if at all. Of course the airbags are a seperate issue, & if even 1 deploys the whole lot, sensors & all, need to be replaced.

the fun part of this thread is we could use supercomputers to analyze every possible combination & eventuality but in reality its Murphy who decides!

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Fri Nov 18, 2011 7:05 pm

nachaluva wrote:I cant see why suspension esp lift blocks would be damaged (presuming no accident), or the driveline, excepting possibly the engine if no roobar, & only the front part of the wiring would be damaged if at all.

This quote made me think of Subaruby's lift kit. I found two MY's in benders that had a 2 inch lift kit fitted, one was straight, the other had taken a serious impact in the front right hand side, the roof was distorted, the front chassis rail was bent, the driver's door couldn't be opened and the radiator was a write off, generally the engine was ok.

So when it came to picking one over the other I ended up getting the kit from the wrecked subi - only because it was solid alloy and I could see how well it had held up in that impact. We had to replace 4 bolts for the engine crossmember, and even then I think 3 only really needed to be replaced. Oh, and the straight subi's lift was just 3 or 5mm square tube steel, no crush tubing!

Cheers

Bennie

alang · Post by **alang** » Tue Nov 29, 2011 10:15 am

use to drive car parks from newcastle to dubbo and back over night job down the golden hwy. the hino truck had a solid steel bumper bar ( not bull bar ) if i didnt hit 3 roos a trip their was something wrong. mostly wallabies hit the bar hit the front axle hit the diff and because the trailer was low what was left would explode. As with the bigger roos i had one jump over the roof of the 1974 corolla down near nowra he jumped over one fence then the car and over the next fence was taller then the corolla he could see over the roof of the car. as how much damage one can do i hit a wallaby on the bucketts way come back from stroud NSW in a EH holden panel van all i seen was the head hit the bonnet on the drivers side then he went under the car i was doing 80 mph at the time no bull bar smashed the head light dinted the bonnet with the head and pushed the edge of the bonnet up about 1 inch/50mm pushed the radiator and support back into the fan pushed the driver side guard out and pushed the inner guard back 1 1/2 inches /75mm so after that i now run roo whistles on all my cars they start working about 80kph you can see the birds and wildlife move out of the way and cows and sheep look or run

sven '2' · Post by **sven '2'** » Sun Dec 11, 2011 2:08 pm

steptoe wrote:
You ask a question a bit like how long is a piece of string !

Answer: sum of 2 halves

YouTube · Post by **El_Freddo** » Mon Dec 12, 2011 6:37 pm

sven '2' wrote:Answer: sum of 2 halves

Or the way I say it:

Twice half it's length

Same same different!

Cheers

Bennie