One other thing to consider as part of this conversation. These brackets are supposed to be low enough so that they interact with the frame portion of smaller vehicles. the NHTSA calls these "SEAS" (Secondary Energy Absorbing Structure), and they are included when a truck is too tall and thus not enough of it's PEAS (Primary Energy Absorbing Structure) overlaps with that of other passenger cars. Here are some interesting docs with pics and renders that may be interesting to anyone interested in the topic (
doc 1,
doc 2).
The thing to consider, if your vehicle lifted? These brackets are only what 6-9" tall? Are you running larger tires? All in all, for most guys running a basic 2" level, plus 35s, you're talking about almost 3" being removed from that bar, and keep in mind that the bottom part of the bar is most likely receiving the most contact due to how tall these trucks already are. If you're jumping up to a Thuren tall coil, a Carli kit, or AEV, you're talking about 3" up front plus 37s, so roughly 2" from stock. So now we are up to 5" taller than stock, which removes most of the brackets contact surface, and the most important area. Guys with 6" and up lifts, absolutely no reason for them to be there.
Now, assuming they don't bother you from a looks perspective, and you're not lifted tall enough to make them completely worthless, no real harm in keeping them. My point here is that as you change your truck, you're also changing how these were designed by the OEM, and they start to work less or not at all. If you really care about other drivers, maybe you should have some longer ones made?
