Under the hood on my truck is a 1/4" steel rod about four feet long, which attaches to clips above the radiator. One end of the rod is bent twice and looks like it is used to turn something with a cranking motion. What is this rod intended for?

 

I believe that rod turns the factory screw style bottle jack.

 

Bingo. Something like this should be on the core support:


(phone app link)