Bent PW AAR trucks - salvageable?

I have not run across bent postwar plastic trucks.

I will be surprised to read of a way to straighten them, but there is always something new to learn.

If the cars are decent otherwise, or have sentimental value, I'd replace the trucks. 

If nothing is broken, try heat.  I've reformed a couple that were pretty distorted by using an old hair dryer that I keep in the shop for various tasks.  Using a wire or clamp, bend the parts to their normal shape and apply heat.  If they're bent REALLY far, don't try to do it all at once, but work them back with heat.  You'll be surprised how far you can bend them, after all, they managed to bend the other way without breaking!

It's not like you have anything to lose, if you screw them up, you're in the same boat as you were.

If you want some AAR trucks, I'm sure many of us have some that we could solve your problem, I keep them from scrapped stock for just this kind of purpose.

Thanks!

I will give the heat treatment a try, and if that doesn't work, I'll take you up on your offer.

Thought I'd give an update on this:

Being single guy, I didn't have a hair dryer handy, but I thought perhaps I could heat the truck in hot water. My best guess is that these trucks are made of polystyrene, and a quick internet search revealed that polystyrene begins to soften at 212 degrees Fahrenheit.

So boiling water it is! I held the bent end of the truck in boiling water for about 15 seconds, and then bent it back into shape with pliers.  I did learn that you need to use smooth pliers for this, though: I now have one bearing cover that says ||| instead of TIMKEN.

Boiling took the shiny finish off the truck, leaving it more of a milky dark grey. Vigorous rubbing with an old T shirt fixes that, but it's hard to get into all the crevices. Maybe some kind of buffing wheel in a dremel or drill will do it.

All told, the hair dryer would probably be quicker, but I do like that you can get the plastic only so hot using boiling water--more idiot-proof--so I will probably keep doing it that way.

BTW, on close inspection, these trucks are obviously heat-damaged, with melty-looking spots around the axles. Perhaps victims of a juvenile onetime "maintenance worker" with a candle?

I fixed some with the hair dryer (it's one that's about 35 years old, long since retired from it's original duty.   They came out looking good as new, no discoloration or apparent ill-effects from the bending or the restoration.

I have several heat guns as well, but the reason I use the hair dryer is that it puts out more heat, but at a lower temperature.  This heats a larger area up much better then the spot heating of the heat gun, and unless you're really careless, it's hard to overheat something like these plastic trucks.  I just checked one of the "restored" cars, apparently the trucks have no tendency or desire to return to the "broken" state, so it appears to be a permanent repair.