Front Frame thingy

Can this piece be removed? It looks like a cap or extension. Wonder if removing it will alter the integrity (safety) of the frame. I’m thinking about mounting a set of driving/fog lights.

 

When I installed my ARB bumper, the instructions said to remove those so bolts could be placed there. I don’t know what their purpose is...

 

Yes, you can remove it. The bolt on the bottom holds it in.

 

Yup

 

So if it can be removed, what exactly is the purpose of this extension thing?

 

Nobody knows for sure, but it has been speculated that the truck failed the offset head on crash test by this >< much, so they added that doohickey and passed.

 

Must be nice to drive in a salt free area. The undercarriage looks almost new.

 

If you used proper undercoating on a regular basis, yours could be nice as well.

 

Not to derail thread, but on my 2009 those ends are starting to have surface rust...should they be removed if so?
My frame looks pretty good otherwise...thankfully not too much salt/brine used here in NC.

Thanks.

 

36,000 yield strength 6061 aluminum, 1.0 inches thick

 

Still not sure what it really does but that’s a nice subtle touch

 

Provides two anchors for 3/4 shackles.

 

Only as strong as what its attached to. That 36000lbs means little in this application

 

yikes! those points are not strong enough for a 3/4 shackle

 

That spot is not rated for a 3/4 shackle

 

All of these attachment points are only as strong as the sheet metal they are attached to. Factory parts included. The 6061-T3 aluminum is the same same strength as mild steel ASTM A-36 ( also 36,000 yield. There is roughly 2.0 inches of metal in the eyelet - so 36 Tons at pull out of the eye - just about equals destruction of a common 3/4 shackle with a 7/8 pin. The point is ........ None of this stuff will fail before you damage the truck frame.

 

I really didn’t see the point to it

 

My point exactly, it's a recipe for failure, in this case at the expense of your truck. Shackles are not to be rated at their destructive strength, they have a 5:1 safety factor for a reason. Point is, dont attach a shackle of any rating to something of a lesser rating. I work with rigging everyday as an ironworker by profession, this is how people get hurt or killed.

 

I think it’s probably to help (a little?) with impacts coming at that angle. Like when they show the crash tests from a car hitting a corner.

 

I fail to see the logic of your reply - if the eyelet won't pull out - right up to the destruction limit of the 3/4 shackle, then the rigging is properly matched. Period. If a force is then applied in excess of the structural limits of the truck - that is entirely up to whomever applies the force. But it won't go flying. I too have been making big lifts - for forty years - and rigging match or overkill is always a good idea when it's easily applied. That is why some huge number of these trucks have one or more of the 3/4 shackles hanging off of them. That is how you try to keep people from being hurt out of ignorance.

My pull ring on the rear hitch is constructed for a 1.0 shackle and sometimes I hang one on there just to scare Prius drivers in the parking lot.