Flattening metal where the sliders bolt on?

Hey yall, I've got a few questions for those with bolt- on sliders. Bought these new, but the end is kind of bent where the bolts go through to attach to the truck. Would you take a hammer to it to try to flatten it out? Would it cause cracks or mess it up if i did that?

 

I'd hammer it.

It's far enough from a weld so should be fine. I wouldn't hulk smash it, but a few good hits.

Lay it with that face down on the concrete floor to get it flat and not over correct it

 

Does a bolt go through it? I probably would just use the bolt to screw it on, using the force to flatten it, but that is me. I'm sure some would say sue the company or something. I'm assuming that happened in shipment.

EDIT: if you have a bench vice, maybe have someone help you hold it up and then use the vice to flatten it.

 

Might be easier to torch it and then use an impact to bolt it on. Should flatten out.

 

Yeah, I'd say above. Just put it on the torque it flush

 

Leave it. It's bent because the front of the cross member is reinforced there. Tightening the bolts naturally bent that piece out. Unless that's in the rear of the plate and not front.


EDIT: missed the part where u said new. If there's a bolt in that location and it still fits, use the bolt to straighten it, on the truck.

 

If you have a big crescent wrench you can put it on the end and bend it back into place. Or just give it some good whacks with a 3 lb hammer. I wouldn’t use a bolt to pull it flush, at least not without attempting to straighten it out yourself first.

 

Appreciate all the suggestions! I'll try to bolt it on the see if it straightens out. It still needs to get powder coated, so I guess it'll be better to find out now if it fits instead of after spending some bucks. If I could lay in on the ground to take a hammer to it I'd give that a shot, but there's two metal pieces that stick out in the middle and the front side which prevents it from laying flat (realized this after going outside to semi-hulk smash it).

 

Used a crescent wrench, then a small vise afterwards. Still wavy but better than before.

 

I would definitely call that good enough! Any little bit of distortion left should pull straight with bolts. As much of a pain it’ll be I recommend partially mounting that slider to make sure holes will line up, before powder coating. Would suck to have to widen holes, hammer it around, etc. after you’ve paid for coating.

 

That's a good idea, I'll do that too before taking it. Thanks for all your ideas guys, this place has a fix for damn near everything!

 

You may have to persuade it to align. Once you get the bolts started you should be fine.

 

Did you close the gap? Or is the gap supposed to be there?

 

Yep, once I got the bolt started, it bolted up flush.

 

Sorry OP, slightly off topic, but what is that skinny tired contraption in the background?

Offroad trailer?

 

would the torch weaken the metal?

 

Yeah, it’ll make it easier to bend.

 

I mean internals. Weaken the alloy

 

Unless it’s some heat treated alloy, which it’s not, no it won’t.

 

Ah. I see what you mean. I don’t think so, either way it’s not a drastic bend. I don’t think it would be any stronger/weaker than whacking it with a mallet.