Is it bent above or below the main beam? If above, you can probably straighten the rod in place, just be careful not to gall the threads. I don't think you need to remove the hulls in order to replace the rod, but I'm not sure.
The Rod is bent above the beam. My experience with yielded metal is to replace the part. Besides I already have the rod and assoc h/w. This doesn't look too hard. I plan on measuring the existing cross beams prebend and duplicating it during re-assembly.
The fun part will be cutting the rod <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />
