99 Regal Pulls to right Bent Rear Spindle Adjusting Rod

[genem]

Went to get a wheel alignment and told they would not do it because the car has a bent rear adjusting rod.

This is on the driver side and technical name is "rear spindle adjusting rod". There are two on each side, this is the threaded bar and nearer to the back of the car. The other one looks similar, but is positioned a few inches ahead of this one.

I plan to remove the bent bar , then replace the new one and adjust the threads to match the old bent bar. I hope this will alleviate the pulling to the right that I am experiencing.

Seems like a straightforward job... but are there any things I need to consider? Like, is it best to do this with no weight on the wheel? I would think so.

[genem]

Wow, what a difference a straight adjusting rod makes. I replaced it last night - the only place that I found was at the dealer.

But, I replaced the bent one, with the new one which was the exact same length as the old one and so did not have to "adjust" the threads.

Took it out for a spin and car no longer pulls to the right, drives straight and the wheel even returns to center by itself when I complete a turn.

Someone on another forum suggested this was likely bent on account of the car either being towed improperly, or else someone attempted to jack up the car with the jack beneath the rod.

As I had to borrow a 21mm box wrench from my neighbor, he told me his son's Celica was towed and BOTH rods were bent in the process. He had the tow shop replace the rods as the tires would wear down in a few months.