Ummm...
 

Can someone tell me what this is? I'm guessing it's the magnet that sits inside the differential housing, but look closer... It's bent up.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-19-15_22.jpg

The gears seem to look good though, no missing teeth or anything.
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/a...0-19-21_79.jpg
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/a...-18-57_441.jpg

Thoughts?

Magnet in the diff housing? Mine doesn't have such a thing.

Is it solid?

What ever it is has been bouncing off your rotating mass. I wouldn't put it back in there.

I thought there was one... Maybe I was mis-informed.

Yes it's solid, at first, I thought it was a bearing, but it fell off the top of the housing which is actually the bottom since it's flipped upside down right now.

Well..if it sat in a hole in the bottom of the housuing it got out and has been been banging around in there a while. Looks crushed from the photo.

Magnets are usually a ferrous metal like the one in your tranny pan. They tend to shatter when struck.

I'm still a bit dubious about re installing it. A magnetic drain plug, yes.

So you think it'd hurt to just leave it out and still install the axle?

A quick search of the internet reveals nothing about internal magnets that look like that. I'd check with a dealer and see if thier computer diagram shows anything.

Summit sells a flat piece of magnetic material that can be placed in a housing.

I would not install it back in my differential. If a magnet is needed I'd work up another solution.

Well it still spins freely so I think it'll be ok. I just wanted to make sure it wasn't anything important.

I don't think it would be in there if it wasn't important. If it's a magnet, you should be able to easily check that by seeing if it attracts magnetic material.

I wouldn't install the axle without verifying what it is first...it wasn't just put in there, whatever it is, for shits and giggles.

I'll research it before I install it, hopefully its no big deal

Interesting. If it is a magnet, I would ditch it and install a GP101 filtermag. I have one in the rear diff and one waiting to go in the front. They are incredibly strong and there is no chance of them coming loose and damaging the gear set.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FTM-GP101/

Now thinking about it, I actually think the magnet is built in to the bottom of the differential because that's the only place the piece magnatized to.

I took a picture of what I'm talking about that I think is the magnet...
http://i887.photobucket.com/albums/a...-04-31_413.jpg

It sits at the bottom and that's where the metal piece was. Like I said though, everything looks good and is still moving freely, so as far as I'm concerned, it's ok. I'm gonna go up to the service dept at a car dealership tomorrow and get one of their techs to look at it and see if they know what it is.