LCA Bracket Bent. How screwed am I?

Smashed down hard on some rocks on my LCA and it bent the bracket/slot for the arm. Any ideas on how to bend it back to shape? Do y'all think its serious damage or can I just straighten the "ear" and just let it be? I'm also kind of concerned about the LCA itself but it looks okay to me.

I hope I'm right in thinking the major bent part is the bracket and not the LCA itself, if its the LCA itself I'll just replace it. I have never messed with arms on any vehicle before. The plan is to weasel the LCA out and bend the slot as straight as I can and just pray

 

I’m not seeing any reason to replace the LCA there, but I would be putting an effort in to bend the frame tab back straight so it isn’t rubbing metal on metal against the LCA bushing sleeve.

If you look at the ends of that cam bolt, is there any evidence that it shifted from the impact? If yes, an alignment is in order.

 

I did the same. Only mine was worse and it was all four of them. I also bent the cam tabs so while I was replacing them with gusseted tabs, I straightened them out as much as I could. Had to weld on a few spots too where it basically tore through the metal. Then sanded and put a coat of paint on and it was good as new. As long as your LCA has full range without binding you’ll be good.

Bending that metal isn’t easy but doable. You’ll probably have to figure out how to bend it enough to get the LCA out first. Then finish it off nicely once you get it out.

And to help prevent from doing it again in the future, look into some LCA skid plates. What happens is when you’re on a rock on your LCA’s, the LCA’s will push the rock right into the side of the mount. The skids will direct the rocks more to the very bottom of the mounts rather than directly into the side. May not completely prevent it from happening again but it helps a lot.

 

And if you’re a really serious crawler, here’s the proper fix. My buddy Alex’s truck.

 

Thanks, you are right. I think I am tripping. Looking at it from another angle it doesn't look as bad. this picture is probably the worst angle possible. I got lucky it was just the bottom bit of the bracket and not the side, etc. I'll work on bending that back and checking the range of motion for the LCA. Will definitely get an alignment.

I was not prepared for the trails that did this. It was my 2nd time off-roading. Was supposed to be a beginner group and since more than 80% of the group backed out (including the organizer) bc of the snow and rain, the new lead guy took us on some more advanced trails. My buttcheeks were so tight the whole trip. So many pinstripes. It was fun though.

 

Damn, you did a great job on your fix. Your friend's truck is looking good too. You should see how terrible my welds are, I won't even attempt to do anything like that, haha. Just like you said though, I don't think my damage is that bad. If you can fix your bends, I can definitely fix my issue. Thanks for the pics and info. Any advice on how to bend the metal here? I'm thinking an adjustable wrench, pry bar, a hammer and beer.

You know the worst part about this? I have LCA skids... I'm just new as hell to off-roading and I thought it was a waste of weight to install them. I was going to sell/return 'em. I have changed my mind. LOL

 

I might have to borrow this idea just gotta figure out how

 

Yeah those LCA skids are pretty useless for anything other than protecting the LCA mounts.

I did mine years ago so don’t remember much other than cussing quite a bit and smashing knuckles. But I do think I did a majority of the bending with some large locking pliers. And a BFH. Just be careful if the pliers have aggressive teeth. I remember mine wrecking the metal quite a bit.

 

It’s funny I was thinking bout tagging you when I posted that.

 

I heated one and used a toothless spud wrench like this one. It was nearly done in one step followed by BFH....