Metal bricks welded to the exhaust

[eugene11]

Hi everyone, today I tried to install the RCI Cat Guards and faced a little frustration. Does anyone know what the heck are these metal bricks welded to my pipes right down after the cats?
I've seen the post of successful guards install from 5280tunage (https://www.expeditionforum.com/threads/rci-skid-plates.50246/post-479472) and he doesn't have such on 4th gen, looks weird.
What if I cut those bricks off?

 

[JamaicaJoe]

I was just under my new-to-me 2013 and I can swear I saw something like that. Perhaps to keep the pipes from vibrating at certain speeds.

 

[twodollars]

Typically those are to add mass to the exhaust system to address a resonance issue. Prob some issue at a particular rpm that vibrates the exhaust, adding mass changes that point. Take it off and you might find that speed/load point.

 

[eugene11]

Yeah, that was my assumption as well, sort of vibro dampers. To me it looks like a quick dirty hack before production release. The weirdest is the fact 18+ guys don't have it, F-150s don't, while my 17' Expy does.

Question to the collective brain, any ideas what may be inside? They look like thin metal sheet half-cylindrical boxes, not a solid chunk of steel. Sand? Lead? Rocks? Before I perform a damper-ectomy, it's always better to know what to expect.

 

[JamaicaJoe]

Depleted Uranium.........

 

[rwmorrisonjr]

Flux capacitors to handle 1.21 gigawatts...

 

[bman440440]

Flux capacitors to handle 1.21 jigawatts...

https://www.oreillyauto.com/flux-capacitor