hey guys so i was looking over my truck and i noticed that it was bent
A) Does this affect anything, because i have not noticed a difference in driving quality
B) do i need to replace it

sorry for the side way pics

 

i belive its bent to over throw the spare could be wrong though does the rear end shifted to one side or no? sorry i dont have that rear end style but i think thats fine

 

no it was never bent before
i look my truck over after evrey time that i off road her and its never been bent

 

Is that the sway bar?

 

no, its on the oder side
i think its called the drop arm but i am not sure

 

Hmm, sorry. Can't help you there. Im a peeecup guy

 

thanx anyways

 

yeah maybe you just hit something hard sometime and it shifted the rear end over does it look like the rear end is shifted?

 

well ive maxed out that rear on boulders allot
in addition ive been getting it airbone over the train tracks by my work lately

 

Obviously, it's not suppose to be bent. So ya, replace it if you have the means. Right now your axles cocked a bit off to the right. In full droop, you're driveshaft may come in contact with your fuel tank.

You can check by using a 2x4 against the tire's sidewall, and measuring the distance to the quarter panel;



Modified image taken from this site and used only on this site.

 

Looks like the lateral control arm. On my '91, mine angles up from the driver's side to the passenger side, sorta like this / (imagine a lil bit more horizontal). But I have the spare tire swing out on mine, so I can't tell you for sure if it's suppose to have some sort of bend for your spare.....but IMO, it's not suppose to be bent. Do the measurement like Noltz suggests and see what the measure is.....

 

yea panhard bar, bent=not good.

i put a lift on mine and i think that causes the same affect of it being bent, it throws the axle off center. on full droop the driveshaft hit the gastank skid on mine.

 

It's called a panhard bar or panhard rod and it shouldn't be bent. If you have a rear lift, measure side to side (pictured above) and if it's off, then replace it and buy one of these... http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/...anhardDropBrkt

 

dam looks like i need a trip to the junk yard

well the weird thing is i have no lift on my truck, its bone stock so what could have caused it

well now that i think about i have low clearance bump stops in front on the ifs but could this affect the rear like that

 

is the spare up there nice and tight? Possibly the spare slid forward when the left tire was down and got pinned between the bar and the body as the left tire came up and bent it? It looks like the bend coincides with the tire, but I don't know how stiff that bar actually is and if the tire has enough pressure to bend the bar.

 

no the spare is on tight, i checked

is it possible to get a jack under it and bend it back in place?
or would that mess things up even more

 

I really doubt the tire has enough pressure to bend the panhard rod, but you never know. That bend will pull the axle a little to the passenger's side, but if the truck isn't tracking funny or the prop shaft isn't hitting the gas tank when the pass. rear wheel is stuffed, I wouldnt consider it a problem. Half the guys here who've lifted truck have the axle pulled to the side. I do.

 

I was just thinking, based on where the bend is. Anyhoo.... yeah, the bend will pull the axle over a tad, probably not enough to really notice.

 

It's bent and will bend easier next time!
Bigblock

 

It's supposed to be straight, but you can take it to a spring shop and they can straighten back out well enough. It won't be "perfect", but it will do fine.

The spare tire couldn't have done that. That's some heavy steel.