Can I take off the 2 small 12" metal bars under my Tacoma?

what are these metal pieces for and can I take them off? They hang kind of low and i' m thinking I may not need them.

 

I think those might be Frame Stiffeners used to help in the event of a crash.

 

Wha? You know something Toyota's team of engineers don't? They don't just add things for no reason.

 

they are so thin, I can't hardly imagine they would help in the event of a crash or stiffen anything!! but just not positive..

 

I took them off because they were not compatible with my skids

 

To install my pelfrey mid skid I had to remove those things. I can't imagine my mid skid adding any strength to the frame. I think they're more of skid plate-ish thingys. Personally I wouldn't remove um unless I replaced um with something else.

 

Toyota refers to them as catalytic converter protectors. 4rnr and FJ people have been pulling them off since they were introduced in 2010 and havent seen any ill effects.

 

They are guards for the catalytic converters. They usually get replaced with aftermarket skids. If you're not adding skids, I would leave them on.

 

Don’t remove them unless you replace them with a skid plate. They are not the lowest point under the truck. Why are you worried about them being there?

 

Take a shot of them from the ground facing up and ill tell you if they are doing anything structural. I cant tell what they are attached too from that pic.

If I remeber correctly though, and if this is same spot you show, then hey added some frame stiffeners, diagnol bracing near the front. Which was not there on my gen 2.
This bracing helps resisting both compression and tensile forces. Basically from the driver seat you feel like you have a more "solid" feeling truck in turns, off road and others etc.