Was installing a locker last night and when reattaching the calmini rear v bar the diff had rolled backward enough to dent the shocks pretty bad.  I was wondering if anyone has any ideas whether i need to buy new shocks or if i could try to smash or sqeeze them into better uniformity and hope for the best. 1994 tracker

Any dent is going to reduce usefulness, but they may still go up and down.  I say look at picking up a new set.

I did run with a dented shock for a year or so on my SJ, but it wasn't a daily driver.  I would avoid trying to re-bend them back into shape, you are more likely to just cause a break in the metal. 

The answer might depend on the manufacturer & model of the shock - a "twin tube" shock has an inner and an outer tube with space between them, which acts as a reservoir - the outer tube could be dented & bent without affecting the movement of the piston in the inner tube

How bad is " pretty bad "? I smacked my Doetch Techs into the axle when new, left a dimple near the bottom of each shock about half the size of your finger tip and half as deep. Still running them and there fine. Any bigger though and I'da chucked them.

What folks are saying is that if you didn't restrict the flow of the dampers movement inside the shock housing you should be fine. A dent in an area (higher or lower) in the fluid reserviors should not create any noticable decrease in performance.   

good info, new shocks are here. goin to play in the snow soon enough