hmm, I guess if you assume each side of the axle is acting together as one paired unit, that works.

I'm just trying to reconcile this with my experience of "heavier vehicle feels better over bumps" regardless of age of vehicle, or even across multiple conditions for the same vehicle. for example, old van vs newer sedan. or if I'm loaded up with a bunch of bags of soil over my rear axle (stuff that stays in place and doesn't bounce around), as long as I'm not bottoming out the travel, it just feels smoother going over the bump, like the reaction of the wheels going up is dampened by the additional sprung mass.

I will admit that suspension design, like electrical stuff, is basically sorcery to me. not my kind of thing at all. also I could absolutely be misremembering scenarios.