rear axle weight,,

[corkey]

i am in the middle of changing my 5th shock on the rear axle, and could not get the bolt out of the inside mount,, so , i took off the pinion weight, ,

my question is,, ???? does it really need to be there ??

so i am taking it off and leaving off the shock and going for a test drive,, i have searched and found no information on this ,
so i am doing this to find out if it needs to be there or not,,

i asked one guy about it, he said it was to get rid of vibration in the back, i will post in a bit as i try it , and find out,,

 

[corkey]

k, i tried it , went for a ten mile test drive at varying speeds, it didn't seem to make a difference,, it was smooth , right up to 85 mph, , next i will put it all back on, and see if the small vibration i had comes back or not,,
but so far it is okay,, just a slight vibration at about 80 - 85,, i didn't go any faster than that as it is a bit faster than the speed limit,, which is only 80 k, or 50 mph,,

 

[4x4xbrian.com]

They are just a vibration damper, I don't know why they are necessary, I have run without them. there should also be one on your t-case

 

[corkey]

k, i have driven it for a couple of miles with and without the damper and 5th shock on the rear end at the pinion,
my impression,, not really much difference so far,, without the damper and shock i did have a bit of a vibration at about 85 mph, but it was smooth up to that point,,

with the damper on , it was just the same, but the vibration was not there till about 90 mph,
which is of no concern of mine as i do not drive that fast at all, bad for gas mileage,,

so , in summary, i feel it is not really required for city driving , but i guess on the highway there was a little less sway at highway speeds,, like 50-60 mph,,

if the Ex was only going to be used for off road,, i would just leave it off all together,, as it might limit the flex a bit, cause the shock is actually kind of short,,
and in a lifted application you would be almost at the end of the fully extended length anyways,, but the weight , or damper , i would leave that , it might keep a rock from bashing the pinion ,