Is this common problem?

Oddly enough, the buttons on the Z bar that the eyelets attach to are fine.
No apparent wear.
That is the original rod to the car.
The only thing I did was weld up the eye as you can see in the picture.
The distance between holes on the new rod seems to be the same length as the old rod.
But as I was pondering what might fix the issue a longer rod did cross my mind.