It's not about stretching or compacting the rod.  Bending the rod changes the distance between the ends.  Whether it's a panhard rod, track rod (steering link behind the axle) or drag link (steering link in front of the axle), bending it will change the distance between the ends and effect steering geometry.  A bent track rod will make the tires toe out, and effect steering wheel position a little as one has to turn it to the right a little to balance the toeed out wheels.  If the drag link is bent you'll also have to turn the steering wheel a little to the right , since the bend drag link will pull the wheels to the left, toward the steering box.  If the panhard bar is bent, you'll have to turn the steering wheel to the left a littel to drive straight since the bend of that one pulls the right side steering knuckle closer to the steering box, the same effect as if the drag link was slightly too LONG, ie- pointing the front wheels to the right with the steering wheel straight ahead. 

In summary, on a LHD vehicle, steering wheel pointed a little to the right when driving straight = suspect one of the steering rods.  Steering wheel pointed slightly left when going straight, suspect panhard bar.  On a RHD it's just the opposite since both the steering box locationand the direction of the panhard rod are reversed.

Sounds like we might have a market for beefed-up G part or two after all.  This stuff is just embarassingly easy to bend it seems.  Somebody was asleep at he switch in the systems engineering group if turning the steering wheel with a road wheel blocked can bend steering or suspension components.  Maybe I need the old "black eye" emoticon here! 

-Dave G.

When I mention stretch or compact... I do mean a bend...
I also wonder if anyone was removed it and corrected the length??? This is a VERY BEEFY, but also has some serious turns to avoid the front differental. I would have to take a look, but a heavy duty hydrolic press might do the trick...

I knew what you meant, bud.  Just trying to keep the words clear for those who might search later is all.

If you can bend it with the steering wheel, or even the weight of the truck (bashing on a rock) the chances are good you can bend it with a hydraulic press.  Where the trouble comes in is that as soon as the steel is bent, it work-hardens a little bit.  Not a lot, but enough that the adjacent, non-bent steel yields a little more easily than the bent portion.  So if you're not super careful, instead of a straightened bar, you end up with one that's got 2 or 3 bends in it before you're done.  Ultimately closer to straight than the original bent bar?  Maybe.  But getting it back to factory straight would require careful heating to stress relieve and anneal the bent portion and very careful straightening.  And after its all said and done the material properties are effected enough that the bar usually bends easier next time.

The real thing is for someone to do like they did for Rovers that bend steering bars and rear trailing arms like they're butter....come up with a better bar.  Higher strength chrome-moly, tubular, etc.  Of curse, the more bends required in the factory bar to fit where it needs to, the tougher it is to come up with a really strong bar, given the fact you have to bend it to make it!

One question that comes to mind is, "Where's the significant difference from 460 to 463?" Since you hear of this problem a lot more with the 463s.

All the best,

-Dave G.

What was the end result? What was the problem?

My offer still stands... anytime you want to get rid of the beautiful diesel... let me know...