I am not sure what the actual name for this is but its a solid strut rod that goes in a bracket on the front axle and up to a bracket on the frame. I am guessing it is so the axle does not rotate. Does taking this off cause any problems?

 

i would think it does

 

IIRC it's called a toruqe rod. it's need on a vehicle with the factory SFA(79-85). it helps prevent pulling to one side during hard brakeing. it's not needed if your doing a SAS

 

Of course if you have stock (push-pull) steering you need the torque rod to prevent bump and brake steer issues and the torque rod also helps protect the steering drag link and steering arms from excessive forces while off-road.

If you do crossover steering, you can (and must) eliminate the rod since it is in the way of the steering and is not needed with steering links parallel to the axle. With push-pull steering the axle rolling back and forth under load results in the steering links moving as well and that is usually not a good idea on the road.