Can bent trunnion bars be straightened?

[LanCoPA]

I have my doubts on this but thought I would throw the question out there. I have a Reese SC hitch with a bent trunnion bar. On my trial run after putting on the hitch, I was making a turn which was sort of up a hill. My frame bracket wasn't tight enough and kicked out, and somehow the trunnion bar got in a bind and bent about the last six inches of the bar upwards (the end that sits on the friction pads). I have kept using it, but now that bent bar turns the cradle on an angle, instead of straight and it's wearing the friction pad off terribly unevenly. I know I can buy the new bars and cradles but is there a way to straighten this bar? I would think that would make it weaker though and defeat the purpose of having it. And I would think using this in the bent position is reducing the effectiveness of the hitch too.

Or perhaps another solution would be to move the frame brackets closer to the coupler, so that the bent portion is not sitting in the cradle? Currently, my trunnion bars stick out about 3/4" beyond the rear of the cradle. I think the frame brackets are nearly at the maximum distance from the coupler that the instructions said you could go. But pictures that I see of this hitch has those trunnion bars sticking out beyond the cradle several inches, which didn't seem correct to me, according to the instructions. But maybe that is OK? If I would move the cradles forward, then I run into problems with the cover for the propane tanks so I would need to figure something out there.

I suppose the best thing is to shell out the $100, buy the parts and fix it right, but I am all about saving money if I can somehow. Any advice?

[quaddriver]

yes you can, any metal/machine shop should have the required press. metal has memory and you did not change the spring temper of the bar.

[LanCoPA]

Thanks. A friend has a shop press and straightened it out for me. I also moved my frame brackets forward so I think I'll be good to go now.