72 Gas Tank Conversion Issue

[OldYeller72]

So I pulled the bed off my truck last night to start the installation of the tank conversion.
I am using a 16 gal fuel cell and mounting straps from Summit Racing. Well, I went back out to take a look and get started on drilling the holes for the straps. I went to slide the cell up in the hole and noticed one side went in fine with plenty of clearance, but on the paasenger side, the tank was rubbing on the cross member, so much that the cell couldnt be put up in position all the way. So I measured it to find that there is one inch less room on the passenger side versus the driver side.

I stood back and looked and I can see the cross member at an angle. Its never been moved, because it still has the factory rivets in place.

I was just curious if anybody has experienced this before?
The picture below is looking down from the passenger side and its the crossmember at the top of the picture. I went ahead and removed the rivets and moved the member forward to match the driver side. I just found that strange that the cross member from the factory was installed in an angle.

One more thing, not being familiar with this year of trucks, I am curious, is there suppose to be a slight bend in the panhard bar running from the frame to the rear housing? See picture below.