Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Greetings all,

Just did a search on diff bretahers and read the last few posts on them, so i was wondering wot seems to be the general best way to do it is just heavy duty lines with loops and without anysort of filter or valve. Wot do u guys use? i have a hilux but im gussin this woudl work on any veichle

i was thinking maybe sum kinda cap on the end of the hose, with a couple of loops. any other ideas?

I have a landcruiser and it has "valve type breather things" on the diffs and the gearbox so i was going to take these out run my hose to a higher point and put the "valve type breather thing" back in the end of the hose, this valve thing will stop any water from going in but allows air to go in and out.
I'd do it like that if ur hilux has those valve things.
cya

On my camolux I used a new fuel filter on the end of some hose for the rear, mounted up high under the tray, with the filter drain facing down (the filter had a 90 degree inlet/outlet), on the front i jammed some low density foam down the front extension hose (this filters out the dust and shit, but still breathes) and placed it high in the engine bay, faced the hose outlet downwards behind my diesel fuel filter. Used clear beverage tube to keep an eye on things, and didn't put any loops in the hose. The fittings to fit the hose can be bought from any industrial hose supplier, or just make them up yourself - I brazed a length of copper pipe over the standard fitting that screws in the diff housing (removed the cap, spring and seal)

Just a note about those factory breather caps that are on the diffs.
They are designed to seal shut as you go though water and the diff cools it creates a vacume and sucks the cap down against the seal.
What can happen is water can get sucked in around your axles and stuff because of the vacume happening and the breather not doing any breathing.
So when you extend your breathers use a filter or something instead of the factory cap thingy.

Hmmm... what's the danger here?

What I mean is, are we trying to prevent the tiniest driplet of water getting into our diffs, or just to prevent them taking a big gulp?

Me, I don't think that if somebody spat in my diff I'd think I had to drain it and put in new fluid. So I reckon that while it would be good to add breathers, I don't really believe they need to be massively engineered.

Therefore my thinking is run a hose up somewhere high that's likely to stay dry and don't get too stressed, just have it point downwards at the end so water can't simply flow down it.

I was kinda thinking that into the cabin inside a wall cavity could be the way to go. I haven't done this on the Mav yet but then I haven't done much of anything on the Mav yet...

Do I remember rightly that someone wrote about plumbing diff breathers into his snorkel?

Jason

It's not just the water, it's also the slurry of mud and brake dust that collects around the seal lips.

Snorkel will provide a slight vacuum - something you dont want in a breather application - in fact it is what you are trying to prevent.

If you are not competing and don't drive REALLY deep water then don't go crazy with the breathers - just mount them high enough for your driving style, and so they don't get a gutful of water when you degrease the engine bay or underside of the rig.

83bj wrote: this valve thing will stop any water from going in but allows air to go in and out.

If water can't enter so can't the air, defeating the purpose of having a "breather".

If you are to use the original breather cap you can remove the rubber flap & just keep the spring & cap.

Thats what i have done.

two 12' lengths of small heavy duty airline.
One runs from the back diff to the enginebay & the other from the front diff does a loop of the enginebay.
Both hoses finish up high in the engine bay and have fuel filters at the very ends. Works a treat !

As for why ya need em.... the other posts are right as to the dust,mud,brakedust,& water problems, Its ok to say just change the diff oil but that doesnt keep it out of the kingpins !..... who could be bothered changing diff oil and regreaseing the hubs after every trip... like I got the time to do that !!

Just run hoses into a high spot in the engine bay, Rocky has them all up close to the bonnet. Better yet run them into the cabin, then diffs will only get wet in your feet do.

I have heard that you can get a lovely smell of diff oil in the cab if you run your breathers inside.

ausyota wrote:I have heard that you can get a lovely smell of diff oil in the cab if you run your breathers inside.

....... you've heard !!!!
....... I've smelt it !!!!

and it STINKS !!

youve beat me to it...i done this first off and it STINKS....

DO NOT RUN THEM IN THE CAB....

same as when you are running lockers i ran the breather out of the cab for the same reason didn't want that lovely smell in the cab

well with all ur comments i have decied to purchase a breather kit from pironha...Comes with the required filters and better quality hose!
thanks ya all !!!!

Sounds like an expensive way to go, all up my diff & g/box breathers cost me under $20.

Kev80 wrote:Sounds like an expensive way to go, all up my diff & g/box breathers cost me under $20.

likewise!

likewise! Can't see any reason to pay more than you need to. Its a pretty simple mod. How much was the Piranha kit?

$35 for the kit guys...thats all easy and simple...the filters seem really good and u can get repalce bit of the filter if u ever want to as well....autone had the filters.

Kev80 wrote:Sounds like an expensive way to go, all up my diff & g/box breathers cost me under $20.

Mine was pretty cheap too.
Air Hose from a garage sale for $5 & $2 each for the fuel filters.
Then probably another 50 cents for the cable ties to tie it all up.

Yeah mine has a factory rear diff breather that runs into the hollow rear crossmember. There is a barb fitting welded to the rear pumpkin so I pulled the existing hose off and used 8mm Festo airline and routed it to the bonnet with a filter on the end. The front diff only had one of those breather caps so we pulled the front diff cover off and welded some plate over the hole (it was pressed in not threaded) drilled and tapped a hole and used a Festo quick release fitting and some 8mm arline and routed it the same as the rear one.
My mates did the same with his Lux they have the breather caps front and rear but they are threaded, he removed them and fitted the Festo quick release fittings and routed the 8mm airline the same as mine with filters on the end.

Hi all would it be advisable(possible) to extend the breathers into the pillars? Just an idea of mine.
macka