Sup fellow Scoobaholics! Well ive searched all over this site and still got mixed results and a ton of “maybe†or “should†answers but never a definitive answer on how to swap sedan fenders onto a wagon. When this happened I figured I might as well seeing as everything is the same price and insurance was paying for it so why not! Heres my story: I recently was driving from AZ to MN and everything was going smoothly…gorgeous weather and the scenery was everything to be expected . When I reached the border of Colorado it was starting to get dark and I love driving on those hills there so I figured this was gonna be the best part of the trip….little did I know how “exciting†it was gonna be… I was cruising down the hills taking corners like a breeze when I came off one of the final turns to get outta the hills between NM and CO. I was going about 75-80 when I noticed a slight reflection come hoping into view off the right side of the road. When I saw that it was a deer I started to brake pretty hard but not full on ABS type braking…..my mistake lol. The deer looked straight @ my headlights and wandered into the center part of the 2 lanes. The divider of the freeway there is a pretty steep drop off and had lots of those steel reflector markers so I knew it wouldn’t be a smart choice to try and swerve around it left… By the time the deer was in the middle of the road I was about 40 er so ft from it and hard on the brakes. It finally stopped looking @ me and took one final step to put itself right in front of my car =( When I hit the deer it sounded like …..a very large pop can getting crunched lol. The deer rolled up onto my hood and tore off the hood scoop and rolled just barely enough onto my windshield to leave fur on the wipers hahaha. After I finally stopped the deer kinda rolled off my hood like ….a yo yo and rolled about 50 ft away and to the right. It was DOA and never moved a inch. The car had stalled out and I restarted it to move it to the right shoulder and holy crap was it running terrible. When I was on the left side though 3 ppl passed me and never slowed down @ all >=/ I watched the rest of the heard of deer pass the freeway and almost get creamed by a greyhound bus but they managed to sprint outta his way. One thing I noticed is that when he honked his horn the deer stopped in their tracks…IMO don’t honk your horn @ deer when they get in front of you… just makes the amount of time they are in front of you longer. Heres the aftermath: After a variable mix of 4 letter words and numerous smacks against the steering wheel I got out to inspect the damage. Nothing was leaking thankfully. CO state patrol showed up and ran my ID and told me about how there are deer hit @ that exact same spot at least one every week…. Waited 1 hr for a flat bed truck to arrive and insurance …. Im not even going to delve into that BS. And here is the finished product: So to answer the conversion ?.. Parts you need to do a sedan fender conversion: WRX sedan fenders WRX sedan bumper skin WRX sedan inner fender liners (front DUH) Up next…. Stage 2 it, 1†lift and 215/75/15 BFGs, black out the headlights, and some DIY mud flaps!!!
Looks great. Good job on just biting the bullet and not swerving. Seen a number of totaled cars due to swerving to miss animals, better to just take it and hit 'em. Sometimes it works out in the end .
Hey man!! That's so weird that I just got online and saw your post. I was helping a buddy move all of his stuff from one house to another today and saw your car sitting in the driveway. I thought to myself that must be a clean wagon coming all the way from AZ. Just got home from a movie and started to read your post and was like umm this seems to familiar or something and sure Shizz that must have been your wagon! haha Glad to hear you were ok and glad to see the deer got what he deserved ahah I'm looking to purchase a wrx from Georgia in the near future, maybe we will cross paths this summer!
that's one way to do it. generally ends up being much more than 1" unless you use forester lowering springs :laugh:
My friend swerved to miss a elk just standing in the road and totalled his car and insurance didnt cover him due to "erratic driving"....lmao IF he had just hit the elk - fully covered. LEARN FROM OTHERS:laugh: As for what im doing for the lift im keeping stock suspension and just buying some of the 1" spacers from Jackson rally over on DI.com There are also some pics of his car on that thread and I am basicly mimicing that setup. NEED to imo w/ these craptastic duluth roads we got here! http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7210&highlight=jackson+rally Only reason I am hesitant to do forester towers is ......well.....$ lol I dont want to do more cuz then you have to really start worrying about all the lil connections and your steering arms ect ect ect. I have a 73 K5 blazer with a 4" lift and 35" BFGs already......if i wanna seriously mud i can mud
You'd be surprised at how many Forester owners will trade you straight up for your suspension components. No money required. Go to any Forester forum or Nasioc's Forester section and say "Anyone wanna do a straight trade, your Forester struts and springs for my WRX wagon struts and springs?" You'll have to fight them off with a stick.
^^ I had a set that I just sold to Bill about a mth ago that sat in my shed for 12mths... I would have swapped you in a heartbeat
