The results aren't surprising to me at all, since I grew up around a shop where we bent axles all the time, doing front end alignments. They are forged, and extremely tough, but not brittle. It's really surprising how far an axle has to be flexed to get a degree or two of alignment angle change. It rebounds at least halfway after a bending procedure, so to move a point on the axle 1/4" for instance, it must be flexed 1/2" or more, and allowed to rebound partway.
Jerry
