ouR escaPOD mods

Unfortunately, I did not take pictures of the bending process. I will try to describe it better.

First, how did I determine the amount of bend? Simple. I tried to duplicate the bend in the axle. Since it is new and the only road mileage is that between the dealer's shop where it was installed and home, I figured that it is as close to ideal as I could find. When I ran a string from one end of the axle to the other (at the bottom points), the measurement between the string and the axle in the center was 3/8".

I had originally thought to weld the tabs on and use straight bolts. I realized that I could not trust my welds to not break under the stress. If I had a more powerful welder, I might have been more confident in my work. The tabs on the ends of the brace are not needed, but since I had already welded them on, I decided to use them to aid in placement of the U bolts. The critical parts are the top brackets. I would not trust my welds there either except these are being compressed and should not be under the same stress as the tabs would have been.

The main piece was cut 77-1/2 inches to start. At the end, I needed to cut about 1/8" off each end to keep it fro extending too far and interfering with the arms. As stated, I placed this on blocks with the legs down so it was like an inverted V. I had wrapped the chain around from end-to-end. The jacking block was placed on the top of the inverted V in the center. I had cut it to fit the angel. The block provided a flat place to hold the bottle jack. I raised the jack to push down the center and pull up the ends, making sure the chain was in the center of the ends (peak of the inverted V). This was to make sure it did not pull off-center and crooked. I'll try to post a sketch soon.

Edit: Hopefully, this will make it clearer.

The clearance was my concern as well. I will look at it again and if I think it might interfere, I will take it off and cut a little off to make sure. I had seen one YouTube video of a shop using a chain and hydraulic ram to bend an axle, although I think it was on a leaf-spring suspension. That's what gave me the idea to try it for my brace. I tried to match the capacity of the chain to the capacity of the bottle jack. I definitely would not have wanted to try out a chain with lesser capacity.

I know you said the center clamp is not needed, but I feel better having it there. It was also helpful when mounting the reinforcement.

This shim would apply the upward pressure on the factory axle tube, and the angle will still remain more or less straight along the length from end to end. 

Just thinking it might be easier for someone else who is wanting to strengthen the axle tube.