Are E-body strut rods suppose to be bent at the end?

They are supposed be straight, just like the A body ones you have.

If both sides are bent equally, it may have been a half azzed attempt of introducing extra positive caster into the alignment. Put a jack under the strut, crank it up, it bends and shortens the effective length, you are adding positive caster by default. Swapping back to straight struts will subtract positive caster.

Its fairly common for the strut rods to have a "dog leg". My OE rods do. Some have more than others. With the dog leg the working ends are still in line... in between though, there is the dog leg. If the rod is bent by hooking a chain or wrecker, ends are no longer in line.

I have a frontend i took out of a 72 charger and the strut rods were bent on it both look the same was looking at the ones under the gran coupe were working on there stright

All the tow truck drivers I asked say yes, and if they aren't they will be glad to fix them for you.

Even my 71 B body rods were bent. Probably to clear the sway bar assay making assay easer.

Here's my thinking: If the strut was supposed to be bent, the FSM would make mention of which way to clock it on installation....it doesn't, the FSM merely says to install the strut and torque the nuts.

My observation is that the E Body strut rods are not bent, they just kinda look like it because of how they were machined.

The Rod's appear to be a forging and are not really "round". The threaded ends appear to be "offset" from the center of the rod which makes them look bent. In fact, in my case, the threaded ends are straight with each other, but the rods look funny as the thread center is offset from the rod center.

Astrobuf

Thanks for the info so far. I am convinced at this point that they are bent, I may try to straighten them but if I can to my satisfaction then I will replace them. What other car do they interchange with if any? I have a number of cars that I can borrow them from if I have a match.

I've got a set of OE rods from a 70E. They do have some "dogleg" but I believe ends are straight. PM me if you need them.

I have bent plenty of them, they were all straight to begin with...

I have several sets and they are straight. Bent ones go in the scape pile.

Here is what I am talking about.

The one on the bottom is severely fubared & the one on the top less so. After all the yeas & nays on this what is your verdict

Replacement is in order. Is a 71 and up B body the same? I have one and access to several more.

Both of those puppies are bent.
66-72B and 70-4E are the same. All others are different.

Thank you Mark, I have a slew of those, probably even some that aren't bent.

1971 B Body
Ordered the H D Mancini Strut Rods

You can see the one in the picture ( Top) next to my factory strut rods

You can also see the factory strut rods have a dog leg bend in both rods , in the exact same location

K Frame has been powder coated and straight as an arrow perfect

Lower control arms , new bushings and straight as an arrow

Make a long story short

These Mancini Strut Rods will not fit , not even close

My factory strut rods are about 17.5" from shoulder to shoulder

Mancini is 18" - Obviously these Mancini Rods are sweet , but no way they will fit , even with no inside bushing let alone the Moog bushings or Energy suspension bushings that I have

What am I missing here ???

Ding ding ding I do believe we have a winna.

These are going back to Mancini

Bottom line , they don't and won't fit and if I could some how , my alignment would bee fffffffffffffff ed , they are to long

Others , same issue over on ForBbodiesonly , with pictures installed

Sounds like I need to find some originals or adjustable s

I haven't read the entire thread recently, why again are you replacing the "bent" ones? They are FWIW only loaded heavily during braking, and that is in tension, ie, that tries to straighten out the bend. Any attempt to bench straighten them, would only improve matters, visually, and reduce any possible lengthening as the bend straightens under braking.

edit, before we obsess on the bend straightening issues, my guess is the OEM rubber bushing solution by itself used on millions of mopars, allows 1/4"? of movement (which is a lot more then your pictured bend could possibly contribute) in hard/daily use, and really hasn't been a concern. Its a minor issue on anything that is not on the track IMO.

Because everyone on the internet says they must bee straight , however I have worked on more then a few 71 72 B bodies that have had these exact same configuration

Anyways , like I said , Mancini s are to long shoulder to shoulder , and that's a fact

I got a RUST FREE set at Spring Fling for $30 and they had all the hdw and were perfect. That was this year. Very easy to find a set.

Wait a sec. I thought this was about E- bodies??? Why does the Mancini part say B-body?