That is exactly how i fixed mine but I used a peice of railroad iron under the axle while it was on the truck... It worked just fine.
It can be straightened but you need to be able to see exactly what way its bent so you can get it back straight their are shops that can do it for you their was a really good write up on it on pirate it showed everything you need the guy chopped off the front of an old 3rd mounted some bearings in the carrier and used a long rod thru the axle too see where and how much it needed to be bent. i found one pic from a different thread general idea on straightening.
