bent shock.....

[rubbinsracin]

so we run an afco 1397-3 on our left rear on the hook and noticed this week that the rod is bent....very slightly but it is still bent....at the bottom really close to the birdcage shock mount. We plan on getting this fixed but we dont have enough time to get it fixed or get a new one shipped out here without paying crazy amounts for shipping before the weekend. the eyelet of the shock looks to be fine it the rod that bent. the shock should never get anywhere near that far down with normal travel so would it be ok to run it like this for this weekend until we can get a new one/get this one fixed on it? its bent about 1/16th of an inch from where its straight to the end of the rod according to my straight edge

[racin6mod]

ya you'll be ok to run it but before you mount up a new shock or that after you have a new shaft put in. you better find out where it's binding up at when you bend a shaft on the eyelet end it's from the hiem running out of rotation/clearance.the eyelet's on your shocks should always be mounted 90 degree's from each other for best resaults.the chassis builder does not always allow for guy's running as much rearsteer as we do.

[rubbinsracin]

it had to have bent when we got ran up underneath from behind on a restart when some out of town idiot thought they would get a jump on the start and the cars in front of me break checked so i checked up and we got smacked and he caused both right 4 bars to bend and the LR upper was snapped and the LR lower was bent and he tore our eyelet out of the jbar and bent the pinion mount. we got everything fixed. and then noticed the shock was very slightly bent.

we thought about trying to put in in a vice and bending it back by pressing it flat. does anything think that would work? has anyone found a better way to fix a slightly bent shaft?

[racin6mod]

I have fixed afco's in the past but some other brands break. you'll have to take them past straight because they will sping back some.

[F22 RAPTOR]

The safest thing to do is replace the shaft or have it replaced. If your sure that the bent portion will never reach the shock bushing then you should be okay to run it. Why risk attempting a straightening? If it were to break you tear up more stuff too. JMO from 6 years building shocks.

[sobe92]

your shock mount on the birdcage is it a standard style with just a stud or a 90* turned style (swivel or fixed clevis). it needs to be a swivel or fixed clevis or you will bend the shock every time.

lr behind and lr in front are the two key bind spots the rr seems to be fine with a standard mount.

[rubbinsracin]

we run it on a stud and have for 4 years without any problems. we run out of travel due to the underslung chassis before we start binding the the heims on the shock. so we arent worried about the shockmount at this point.

it had to have bent the shock when we had someone run up under us on a restart when the typical brake checks happened and he was trying to jump the start and ran up under our LR. it bent both of our LR 4bars and must have got the shock at the same time. we just never noticed it until now. most likely because of the angle that we were looking at it. we replaced the bars and everything seems to work fine. no binding or anything when we jack it up to check travel and binding. so were going to try and run it and see what happens.