Thank you... I went to put the evo 1/4 bumper on and to my surprise I have to cut the lower bar off. Not happy about it probable getting a different bumper it seems silly to me to chop up a brand new jeep for bumper that leaves the sway bay disconnect in harms way. This is disappointing...
LOL!! it's funny because no other jeep has ever had it and most in the industry thought it was silly to have included it. give it a good look and you will see that your sway bar motor sits BEHIND it and even below it and this bar offers NO real protection for it. give it one minor hit and it will taco - trust me, i have seen it.
Those two functions is why its there. Mounting point and armor
Edti: Oh and it adds a little more strength to the frame by acting as a crossmember
not exactly. this is NO cross member and there was no armor on a factory jk attached to it, only a plastic air dam. in fact, on the 07-09 JK's, the tabs holding it in place were super flimsy and just barely welded in place. it wasn't until 10 that the connections were beefed up with more welds.
much like a full width bumper made of plastic and one that offers no real protection, the only purpose of this bar was to satisfy mandated requirements. it offers no more strength and little to no protection to the sway bar disconnect motor.