Hi, new to forum, but reader for years. I have a bent upper c on the passenger side. Based on my measurements from the tube, the upper c is bent down by about a 1/2 inch. After about 20 hours of reading, aside from swapping axle housing $$$ 😬, it seems the best route would be to heat the mid upper part of the c till its yellow, use a bottle jack inbetween to get inline, and let cool slowly. Then gusset to reinforce. Before I do this I'd like a second and third opinion before I frigg it up unintentionally. Thx in advance!

Was supposed to be an easy ball joint swap

 

Welcome .. good experienced group here, Not having any experience with your situation I am going to refer to members that have more experience with "C"s .. IMO - The gusset part would be good if you can re-bend the "C".

 

Well, heated the upper c with a propane torch as hot as I could, used a stubby bottle jack, placed a 1/2 inch piece of wood under jack, and a steel cap on top of jack so it wouldn't go through ball joint bore, and jacked it up after heating. let cool naturally. Whole process took about 3 hours with 2 attempts so as to not over bend. Seems to have done the trick. Went together nice. Now to deal with the real culprit, track bar bushings! Death wobble begone

 

Jeesh, not sure what to say bout all that. I'd imagine being in the Virgin Islands resources on things like axle housings are harder to come by, much less for super cheap. Also though, I guess you were in the boat of "nothing to lose trying". Kudos on the ingenuity. Kinda surprised it worked. I'd presume at the very least better than it was even if not perfectly in spec. I'd rather deal with fixing DW issues than a bent C like that! Easy peasy.

 

Yes, Virgin Islands are beautiful, but a real pain to get anything. Especially something as big and heavy as an axle housing. You are probably right about not being in perfect spec. When I can locate a new axle I'm gonna upgrade anyhow. Hopefully it lasts long enough. I imagine its gonna chew something up not being exact specs. U joint, bearing, or possibly the splines on the axle shaft.