ARB diff breather - install guide

Every truck that may have a chance to do any water crossings should have this mod done.
Our trucks has a one-way breather on the diff itself. Which means if the diff ever gets submurged under water, your diff/axles become a pressurized system and If there’s any kind of vacuum while under water, you would suck in water into your axles, etc. there is a mod to extend the stock breather but that still leaves you with a one-way breather that can cause water to seeP in through axle seals.

So saw the ARB kit and thought, well these guys builds lockers so they should know what’s good for diffs! I went ahead and purchased the kit not knowing if it would fit our diff bolt on.

The kit I purchased. It includes everything needed for the install including ARb zip ties! Purchased it from here http://toyteclifts.3dcartstores.com/ARB-170112--ARB-Differential-Breather-Kit_p_1504.html

ARB 170112 - ARB Differential Breather Kit


Tools needed

• Wire cutters
• 2.5mm Allen wrench(to install plugs)
• Plastic pry tool(to remove tail light)
• T-30 socket(to remove tail light)
• 13mm ratcheting wrench(tighten arb fittings)
• 14mm deep socket(to remove stock breather)
• Blade(to cut tubing to length)

It ptetty straight forward. Remove stock breather. Install ARB connector which is already prepped w Teflon tape. Just snug it tigh when it bottoms out. Do not overtorque it. Run you air line giving enough slack for suspension travel. Use zip ties as needed and I ran it inside the frame rail up into the drivers tail lamp. Be careful w the tubing as it doesn’t like sharp bends and kinks easily. Use big radius bends as much as possible. The tubing just snaps into the connector when you push it in. It is air/water tight. I zip tied the unit behind the tail lamp and the tail lamp clears it when put back together. Don’t forget to plug the other ports you don’t use.

Done! You now have a diff breather to keep your diff fluids cleaner longer.

 

Reminds me of my old Titan. Titans had/have an issue with the rear axle seals leaking, and most of us did a similar mod. The fix, just like this, was to run tubing from the axle vent up into the rear tail light housing, then install a small fuel filter on the end. For about $10-$15 worth of parts it was more than worth it to prevent leaking axle seals.

I wasn't aware our Tundras had a similar issue, so this is good to know.

 

I don’t know if they do either! Just a precautionary measures. I’m sure you can use the toyota union, some fuel lines and a filter just like you said to save some coin. Essentially does the same thing which is give you a two way breather above the water line. If you have water above your tails you are in trouble!

 

@16tunterd

 

I got this from the ARB site....

A differential / axle breather serves the important purpose on a 4WD vehicle of venting the air pressure in drivetrain assemblies such as the differentials, transmission and transfer case. Under normal operations, these assemblies heat up and the air inside expands, increasing the pressure and thus the need to be vented to the atmosphere is created. When the drivetrain assembly cools down the air inside contracts and creates a vacuum.
Many drivetrain assemblies are fitted with a breather from the factory. These factory breathers are usually a one-way valve mounted directly to the housing or remotely on a short tube. The shortfall with the factory breathers is that driving through water crossings creates a vacuum caused by the drivetrain assembly being cooled rapidly by the water. This vacuum will tightly close the valve shut causing air to be instantly drawn into the assembly through the seals. Many times the seals are still submerged below water, leading to the water being drawn into the drivetrain. This will contaminate the oil and possibly damage drivetrain components or your Air Locker.
The ARB Differential Breather Kit is designed to eliminate these shortcomings by providing a high flow, zero back pressure, zero vacuum breather system. This is achieved with a high flow air filter within a central manifold that will allow up to four drivetrain assemblies to be vented to one central location, ideally somewhere on the vehicle that will be above the water level at all times. This kit is intended to replace your factory breathers and contains enough fittings and tubing to connect at least two drivetrain assemblies. More tubing and push-in fittings can be purchased separately to connect up to four assemblies to the central manifold (Part Number 170113).

@BuckWallace

 

Yep, did the breather mod. But the ARB is really clean.

 

How’s your diff @16tunterd

 

Here’s a good video on the ARB unit. Not mine.

https://youtu.be/v5FDbks-R1g

 

I bought the parts listed in one of the DIYs here and installed it a long time ago. It's clean but your ARB looks even cleaner. Sometimes the creek below me will flow over the road in 4 locations. (not this year) I haven't seen much more than a foot of water but it's such an easy and inexpensive mod, I did it for peace of mind. I put split loom over the hose for abrasion protection.

 

Do you remember who wrote up the DIY? It was probably Mark’s.

That mud pit we dropped into counts and that was at least 3 feet deep at the deepest. Here’s about 3 feet of water at Mojave.

 

Make sure you used the front breather part that Mark provided and not re-use he one way from the rear diff.

 

I went with the ARB breather. Your breather is located exactly where I attached mine..

 

Great minds think alike!

 

Have you checked/cleaned your filter yet? Wonder how often to do it.

 

Wait, why? I reused the one from the diff.

 

Haven't been in any deep water yet.

 

Read what I posted. One way vs two way.

Post #5

 

You probably should check your diff fluid now.

 

Thanks for the nice post. I have had the ARB kit for awhile now but I have not gotten around to installing it. It's on my list with all the other stuff I need to do.

 

It’s pretty straightforward. Took me under an hour. Didn’t need to drop the spare either. Just be careful with the lines as they don’t like to be bent.

 

Ouch! I know it's not a cheap fix if you have someone do it. I got lucky and never had any leaks on either of my two Titans--the breather mod may have prevented it. Cracked manifolds, on the other hand...

 

So do you need one for the front as well?

 

I was gonna say the same. line can probably be routed to the rear breather since it has multiple inputs

 

The front is already in the engine bay and I believe it is a 2 way valve. You can tie it into the arb if you really want though. Might be best to install the arb unit and run the rear to the front instead though.

 

Thank you sir.

 

Looks like something I may pick up. Website says you need to tie in tranny and transfer case. Anyone know where the vents are on those?

 

I believe only rear diff wasn't connected to a breather.

 

You're right, looked up the the DIY I used for parts and it was Mark's. Thanks, yet again @dcsleeper408.

 

Nice write up! Adding to my list for sure, ARB is just too clean to pass up

 

Did this mod on my Titan and my Tundra. I did it both times the cheap way with a fuel filter.