06 LR3 - tire rub - is this frame piece bent?

[ZC06LR3]

Hello,
Tried to search but couldn't find what i was looking for.... Got new tires
265's from bald 255s - why the tire shop didn't catch this I don't know...
there is a part of the frame that appears to bolt on under the fender and behind the wheel. on the passenger side it's in line with the fender, on the driver side it's leaning forward a bit and rubbing on full left turn.
The part appears bent a little based on comparison of the passenger side and my buddy's 08.
What is this part?
Can i just unbolt it, try to straighten it (or just bust out the BFH and 'caress' it back a bit?)
On offroad height it doesn't rub. so i guess i could use this as an excuse to get Johnson rods.. thanks in advance...

 

[tlt]

This was added on some later models. I won't say to remove it, but I don't have one.

 

[ZC06LR3]

I smell what you're steppin in... but ....what IS it? why was it added?

 

[Houm_WA]

Also, do yourself a favor and get GAP's IIDTool in lieu of Johnson's Rod.

It's more money, but way more capability for your $.

 

[cmb6s]

I believe its purpose is to stop the wheel from intruding into the driver or passenger foot wells in the event of a front end collision. I _thought_ that the "horns" or whatever they're called were bolt-ons in earlier models (or perhaps mid-models), but something changed later on and I think they were welded?

Regardless, I'm not sure I would remove them if you can help it, but perhaps if you can grind it down it might still serve it's purpose while not rubbing on the tires?

 

[ZC06LR3]

It looks to me like someone used it as a jacking point judging by the way it's bent up and away vs the way the one on the passenger side looks. I'll probably take it off and see if I can't massage it back to proper shape.
Thanks for the input!

 

[kwlr3]

There were some earlier reports on this forum of those "horns" being used as the point of attachment for tie down chains on flat beds. Either that or jacking caused the bend.

 

[jwest]

wow, so 2006 and 2005 had these bolted on. 2007 forward has not quite the same thing but what we do have, also in the way of larger tires, is welded. Mine were cut back some and new front plate bolted in place so it still does the job of crash safety while allowing larger tires.

I don't think you'll be able to "massage" a boxed steel small part like that with no real leverage to bend it. Plasma cutting and rewelding is the only good way to do it. A fabricator could do it in an hour with you hanging around to show what it needs to end up like.

Rods: always sounds like a great idea at first thought, bad to do in reality. If you want super ****** handling, it's a lot cheaper to buy an old Disco 1 and lift it 4" than buy a well designed lr3 and ruin it's handling by using rods to roll higher than it was designed to do at highway speeds.
Rods cost what, $200 ? IIDtool costs no more than $400 but is 100% better solution. No, maybe 1000%, and it's safer.

 

[Houm_WA]

Completely agree with jwest on the rods comment. I said something like this on another message board and got an adverse reaction...but that's because the Johnson Rods guy got in on the thread and was defending his product.

I mean if they are like $50 and people use them right (like installing them the day of a trail run for that day only) then maybe it's ok. These guys on that thread were talking about strength and such....the part doesn't take any load!

Anyway...you can lead a horse to water, but....