What purpose does this serve?

The brace between the lower rad support and the K member ???

Helps stop damage when you curb the frontend.

Probably not the factory reason, but it sure as heck does act that way in everyday driving.

to waste some time, i decided to put the one on my charger on a weight reduction program.
it only lost a tad over 2 ounces [???] but kinda looks neat.

supports the core support. never seen one full of holes.

The radiator opening in the core support weakens it, the strut provides added support.

Well this still makes no sense. The top and bottom bends in the lower support are what would give it any longitudinal strength, not that itty-bitty bracket that's attached with 5/16 grade 2 bolts that are mounted in shear !!

I always thought its main purpose was to support the lower rad support. Something else it MIGHT do is protect the K from obstacles in the road if you hit them. The K is lowest in the center, right where that brace mounts. If you hit something in the road, chances are the center of the K is what will make contact. With that brace in the middle, the car might go up and over the obstacle instead of it slamming into the K. Just speculation on my part.

Hmmm ..., I suspect anything of significance would 1) buckle that brace 2) drag the lower rad support back 3) pull the whole rad support out of shape.

Besides, I think the front sway bar hangs lower than that brace !!

Chrysler added this brace to thousands and thousands of cars for one reason;

It was a practical joke on their part just to see if one guy decades later got upset at the sight of one.

I guess it worked?

It's there to prevent shake, not support it.

Who's upset ?!?!?

I misplaced mine decades ago. Now close to putting the car back together (not a resto) and considering welding up that hole in the K - unless someone out there can justify putting that support back on.

X3
BTW a 5/16 grade 5 bolt can have a shear point of almost 6,000 lbs

BTW ... a 4000 pound car moving at 5 mph will exert 20,000 pounds of force. That bolt doesn't stand a prayer !!!

I've seen them bent pretty bad and still be bolted in place, so they must help with some support.

I suspect the idea was to deflect, rather then stop something. The lower radiator support sits several inches below the frame rails and is made from boxed sheet metal. The K member is made from 11 gauge steel and is pretty robust, as far as a unibody car goes. That little bracket bolted to the lower radiator support and to the K member sits at enough of an angle, I suspect it seldom sees a direct impact, at most events of contact, whatever it is encountering would likely simply lift the front of the car on the suspension, deflection. Parking blocks come to mind, the bracket and the two bolts would be stout enough to lift the front end of the car up. It would also be strong enough to support the weight of the car resting on that parking block, and would also assist the lower radiator support when the car s backed away from the parking block. Without the bracket, the car could bounce over the parking block (with some damage to the radiator support) but then could potentially come to rest on the lower crank pulley, or the lower radiator host. Then when the car is backed off the parking block, the bottom of the radiator could be what makes contact to lift the front end back over the block.

In the unibody picture, it adds support to the lower radiator support to assist in it not bending rearwards simply by being attached at an angle, with the other end attached to the more robust K member. It could also prevent stuff from being trapped between the radiator and the K member.

If it was my car, I would bolt it back on. Gene

Man what a small world

I literally just literally installed one on my 71 Bee this afternoon

I know for a fact it hasn’t been on the car for over 30 years

Didn’t realize the E Body ones also fit the 71/72 B Body until this past weekend at the Mopar Nationals when I bought one in the swap meet

Hardest part was figuring out the attachment hardware - And then realizing that carriage bolt has to slide in under the radiator

Fun I say fun

I can say , that brace sits directly below where both auto transmission steel cooling lines come together over the K Frame to the radiator


Even added the Plastic Splash Shields to the front frame , between the K Member - Aftermarket new

Now I know what those small holes in the front frame rails where used for

The factory stuff that disappear s over the decades, probably before I even bought the car , who knows

But that 20,000 pounds of force will be distributed throughout the front end, it will not be all concentrated on that one bolt. I say the bolt wins this scenario.