Dana 45 diff vent tube

[CBidzinski2010]

Hey guys,

Just wondering what the front differential vent tube goes up to, my hose is now too short since I lifted it and I was looking around and I can't tell what it goes up to, it looks like it goes up somewhere on the driver side frame rail? Can I use a standard fuel line to replace it? Does anyone have any other suggestions to make this work?

Thanks everybody,

Cody

 

[87scotty]

You just want it above any water lol its just to vent pressure so any hose will work

 

[PrairieDrifter]

On my suburban it goes to a short metal line on the frame rail, then has another piece of hose that goes to the radiator support and on the end is the vent valve. You can use fuel line if you want, I used power steering hose because its a little bit stronger but there's no pressure or anything to be worried about, just if it gets hung up on something.

 

[CBidzinski2010]

Alright buddy thanks a lot, I'd really rather have one of those breather kits that's about 4 inches tall and doesn't have a haze going anywhere but everyone wants a stupid amount of money for what it really is, I'm stretching out that hose how it sits at ride height so any good bump and I might be throwing some oil on to someone's Lexus here in Buffalo..... Maybe I should just make it throw oil haha

 

[Greybeard]

It should never throw oil hopefully, if everything is good inside the diff. If it did you would be filling your diff at every oil change.

I liked to run the hose as high as possible. Anywhere but inside the cab is good (on older trucks that bring cab air in from the fender hollows is also not a great idea). I ran all three of mine to a couple of tees then into one line that I ran up between the back of the cab and the box and held in place with a screw in cable p-clamp. I have heard of folks that used a fuel filter on the end to filter the air that will be sucked in when the diff cools off. But most important is to make sure the open end points in such a manner that water does not get into it from rain or snow (if the factory installed a vent cap, reuse it, they used to be very hard to find/buy). I knew others that ran all their vents to the air cleaner. I never saw a need to create a vacuum in the diffs or t-case myself, that just encourages water and dirt to enter through potential leak areas or poorer seals. You can also vent the distributor (if you have one) the same way.

 

[CSFJ]

On a side note some of the old WWII m-38 military jeeps were optioned with a switch system to pressurize the t-case and differentials. The thought being that in a water crossing the positive pressure inside the parts would prevent water from getting in past the seals. From my understanding they used pressure from the engine to do this. would love to see the switch mech. to see how it worked. Thought about trying to do it on my jeep when I had it, but figured it would be more of a novelty than actual function.

 

[Greybeard]

Those old M38 jeeps had the big ball type front knuckles (the proper name escapes me now) up until the cj2a I believe. The same style that Rockwell uses today on the deuce and a half and larger housings. They were notorious for leaks back in those days because the seal was simply a leather wiper and a piece of felt. EPDM rubber had not been invented yet and pure rubber was not oil resistant.