Bent strut question
 

Last week while riding we hit a submerged tree/log the hit was pretty good but we didn't notice anything wrong with the way the boat handled so continued to ride for another couple hours. Upon pulling the boat out of the water it looks like the only thing wrong is the strut is pushed off to the side by about an inch. Other than that everything is fine, prop(stainless) rudder etc. so now after some research it's looking like we should pull the shaft check it and remove the strut and have it replaced. That being said we looked into doing it and the top of the shaft connections are nearly impossible to reach and the strut mounts sit directly under the engine and are not accessable. Before we send it to the shop where itll likely sit for the rest of the summer and pay an arm and a leg, has anybody had any luck with just applying pressure to the strut and bending it back into place? The shaft is difficult to turn where it is now but again had zero vibrations upon continuing to ride. Is it worth trying or is it a stupid risk to potentially cause even more damage?

The boat is a 2002 launch ssv

Thanks, Patrick

You will never be able to bend the strut back to the exact spot that it needs to be in and you would do further damage if you ran it out of alignment. You will have to replace the strut. I did the same thing on mine. I have a DD so it wasn't too hard to pull out and replace myself. My shaft was still straight so I was able to reuse it.