MTFCA Forum

Got good advice to straighten a bent radius rod cold ….

How would you fix this? Inside lip of front cross member bent slightly. Without removing it. I am not set up to do that now or ever. Would you hammer it hot? Cold? Or leave it alone?

I've had that issue on ar least two cars. If the spring was straight in the frame and and the ball of the wishbone lined up with the socket on the pan, I left it alone and never experienced any problem. Car ran the same and every thing was solid.

I was always told when straightening or bending vanadium steel to do it cold.

I had a similar bend in a cross member. I took the biggest crescent (adjustable wrench set) with the deepest jaws I could find and started at one end. Close the jaws until they just fit over the metal. Bend a little, move over a bit, bend a little, move over a bit, bend a little, ETC. In less than a half hour, I had the cross member straight. I just kept going back and forth over and over until it was straight. I believe the trick is to bend it a little at a time until it is straight instead of trying to get all the bend out at one time. I checked both sides with a good straight edge.

Good Luck,
Terry

I’ve studied your photo for 10 minutes but cannot make out what I am looking at. Can you send a different angle? Jim Patrick

I'll second Terry's suggestion.
Allan from down under

Regardless of what it looks like or even a bulge - if the poles match its straight. Long rods would highlight a twist in the axle.
If your tires don't show an unusual were pattern leave things alone
I can't see fixing it without removing the front spring, wheels, wishbone and tie rod

Jim isn't the only one confused by the picture. I finally figured out that the flat rusty thing is the top of the spring.

Lemme help you guys out. The front axle spring is at the left, drag link to the middle, under side of cross member to the top.

The rear most side of the cross member (facing the engine) is bent. If you look at the spring and cross member relationship, you can see it.

You can also probably tell this car is on jackstands. But you probably cannot tell it’s not drivable as there’s no steering, and in fact, the engine has never spun over on its on

I would want to clean that up and look the entire front crossmember over for cracks and loose rivets. If it isn't cracked and it the rivets are still tight, and does it not rub the spring when the car is running on the road, I'd leave it alone until such time as you take the car apart for a general refurbishing. I'd look carefully for evidence as to how it got bent like that in the first place. I'd also look for other damage to the frame, paying particular attention to the frame area around the rear motor mounts, the steering pitman bearing, the oil pan engine mount arms, and the rear crossmember. Check for cracks, welds, bent or distorted parts, and loose rivets and bolts.

Gotta admit, that's kinda funny Will! I mean your explanation of where we're at in the photo. Took me a few seconds but I got it.
I have a late center door project here where the cross member looks similar.
Something extreme happened to mine as the steering was backwards when we bought it. Nothing was out of place but it was is-if the wishbone popped out of the pan and allowed the axle to pivot and bend the heck out of the cross member.
Also as-if a repair was made, the steering still backwards and "out behind the shed you go" sort of thing.
Neat pic and thank you for showing it.