chain alignment/effed swing arm?

[supersilas]

i have been trying to align my wheel and get the proper slack in my new chain.  i thought i finally got the wheel aligned (as well as it was going to get anyways) and chain to around 25mm of slack.  i went to tighten up the axle nut and watch as the chain goes super slack.  to my dismay the flimsy metal end of the adjuster bent and started pulling inside the swing arm. attached are pictures of the questionable side of the swing arm and the bent plate.  the other side of the arm measures square at the end and looks fine. its adjuster plate never wants to stay secure to the end of the arm.

questions

1.  what am i doing wrong?
2.  is the swing arm too damaged and cause non-nearly perfect alignment?
3.  why won't the other adjuster tighten to the arm?
4.  is there a way to make the adjuster plate better/ not as flimsy?

i finally thought i had my bike up and running after burning 2 months of decent weather driving fixing the thing.  now it's just getting depressing

thanks for helping.


PS. never dropped on sprocket side (that i know of) and only low sided while turning to slow into a dirt driveway with a sandy end.

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