This paper is a presentation of an experimental study about the elastic-partly plastic behavior of rectangular hollow steel pinned struts subjected to static cyclic axial loading and the evaluation of the compressive strength of retrofitted crooked struts. Retrofitting is achieved by welding stiffening plates along the webs of damaged struts. The material follows a quasi-kinematic hardening hysteresis path as observed from coupon tests. Test results are compared to those of an analytical model showing a good agreement for both standard and retrofitted struts. The comparison of different stiffener plate dimensions shows that more efficient strengthening is achieved by using long thin stiffeners rather than short thick ones.