Mystery part

Hi everyone,

This part on my new-to-me '94 RMW was badly bent and tends to bottom out, so I'm trying to decide what to do about it. The first question though: what is this?



It's mounted on the exhaust support, roughly under the passenger seat. It's not providing any additional support, and I have no idea what the tube/cylindrical part is for - it doesn't touch anything, and no wires lead to it.
I did find the part in a picture in a Haynes manual, so it's definitely original. In that picture the tube section is horizontal, while on my car the thing was so badly bent that it was almost vertical.

I tried searching the forum, but couldn't find anything.
Any ideas? thanks!

My guess would be that it is probably some sort of noise/vibration dampener...

I believe it is a counterweight to make it easier to level the cat back pipe. It may also be as said above, a noise/vibration damper. The TBI cars do not have the above part.

It is a factory damper. It can be removed without issue.

Thanks guys! appreciate the help.

jayoldschool wrote:

It is a factory damper.  It can be removed without issue.

Jay - do you mean a vibration damper? and what makes you say it can be removed without issue?

It is a tuned damper weight that eliminates a droning noise at certain RPMs. It no longer functions if the exhaust system has been modified from the factory configuration.

I'd removed mine and ended up re-installing it, and have even considered getting one for the other side (Caddy Fleetwoods used one on each side for added smoothness).

Wrote about it in this thread: https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t14208-new-flowmaster-fx-magnaflow-style-straight-through-mufflers

I could not imagine it made a difference, but it really did!

Glad to know what it is. Mike, after reading your thread I'll keep them off for a while, then reinstall and listen for the difference. Thanks!

You won't notice a difference. Mike is just super duper OCD and knowing that they weren't there was just too much for him

awild wrote:

Thanks guys! appreciate the help.

jayoldschool wrote:

It is a factory damper.  It can be removed without issue.

Jay - do you mean a vibration damper? and what makes you say it can be removed without issue?

Yes. A vibration damper. That is what a damper does by definition. Dampens vibrations. Note that it is not a "dampener", that just makes things damp, lol.

How can I say removal is no issue? 20 years of running without...

jayoldschool wrote:

Yes.  A vibration damper.  That is what a damper does by definition.  Dampens vibrations.  Note that it is not a "dampener", that just makes things damp, lol.

How can I say removal is no issue?  20 years of running without...

Got it. I was trying (and failing) to ask whether it's there to dampen vibrations which might do damage over time, versus just sound. But in any case, after your answer and the others I'm definitely keeping it off unless and until I hear any new and unpleasant sounds.

Thanks!