I was polishing my rods tonight and I noticed something interesting, how do they balance these type of rods?
Compared normal forged rods these do not have the huge mass above the small end. There is also no extra metal on the cap. I was wondering how would weight be removed for balancing without weakening the rod?

 

When I went through my '94, I found they were remarkably close in balance (within 2 grams after cleaning). I polished along the areas where the parting lines were to adjust the overall mass, and didn't bother with the dynamic balance. So little material was removed, I probably really did nothing to affect balance.

 

you ned a rod balancing jig to properly balance rods.the big and small ends are weighed and balanced seperately.taking a bit off the small end won't weaken the rod significantly,the caps and bolts are the areas that usually break.
Eric B