Trail Gear Differential Breather Kit

[slosurfer]

Mike, good to know.
Here's geek thread about the ATV ones (I wonder if these are bigger than the ATV ones?)
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...light=breather

How are they getting oil up in there?

I agree, my stock ones have always worked fine (until this used geared front diff I got, but I can't use that bellows thing anyways)

[micga7]

i wanted to know if i went though some high water today the rear diff breather might have gone under water and don't have the mod yet. do you think i got to change the fluid i just change it about 3000 miles ago.

[Seanz0rz]

take the fill plug out, and put your little finger in there. see if the oil looks clean. unfortunately the oil will travel to the top of the water, so any water would be at the bottom. you could try and drain a little and check the condition, if its watery, replace the fluid.

the diff breather should seal when water hits it, but should and does are two different things.

[micga7]

can it cause a lot of damage or will it burn up if it's only a little.

[CJM]

A little is no big deal, you get that over the course of the years by driving thru very heavy rain and slightly flooded roads depending on conditions.

However its not good if most of it is water and no oil.

[Robinhood4x4]

The advantage of the bellows is when you flop or roll, you don't dump all your diff oil all over the trail. This is why they're used on buggies a lot.

The problem with squeezing out the air before hooking up the bellows is when you dunk your hot diff into a cold puddle, you can potentially suck in water through the seals since there's negative pressure in the housing.

Chris, you can still used the bellows with the front diff, you just need to hook up a short hose to remotely mount the bellows.

[slosurfer]

Yeah, Steve, I was thinking the same thing, a short hose and mount it. Actually my front is the one that needs to be done first. It is acting up and one of the oil seals is leaking. I don't see why I can't rip the cap and spring off and hose clamp a hose right to what's left of the breather valve. It's already fubar'd so I won't be reusing it.

That makes sense about the negative pressure.

[Robinhood4x4]

That's exactly what I do with my breathers. Just clamp right to the nub left over.

I got the negative pressure thing from Roger Brown and it makes sense from an engineering standpoint too.

[Seanz0rz]

the negative pressure thing makes sense, im just not sure that it would pull hard enough to suck water in past the seals.

not having felt the material they are made out of, i worry that the bellow material would decompose after a few years of being sandblasted out here in the california deserts. i see no reason to use the traditional hose method, especially when it can be done for less than the cost of this. as for losing oil when you roll. i think losing diff oil is the LEAST of our worries when we roll our rigs. for most of us, they are our daily drivers, or at least a prized member of the family.

the cons (price, questionable durability, limited amount of volume change, etc) out weigh the pros (effectively a sealed rear axle, unlimited fording depth, compact and easy to install), at least as far as im concerned.

[slosurfer]

How would it decompose any faster than your hose?

Also, last I checked, the top of my axle doesn't get sandblasted. I'm sure it's just as durable as any of the other lines/hoses coming off the rear axle, especially considering the placement of it, on top right near the center. Now, if it was out by the shocks, I could see an issue.

From what I'm finding out, and like Mike said, the idea came from ATV's. So it's a proven system that works. Now whether or not one that is sized for an ATV axle will work on ours, seems a little iffy. But the bellows "breather" as a system is proven.