What do they do

the main purpose of a diff breather is to maintain normal pressure within the axle. This helps keep contaminants from entering the differential housing and compromising the oil and eventually destroying the bearings and gears, it also prevents oil from escaping through the axle seals and eventually destroying the bearings and gears due to lack of oil. The main way contaminants get into the diff system when off-roading is when the axle is suddenly cooled. This is usually done when crossing a river.

The axle heats up from driving which causes the air inside to heat up. When the axle is suddenly cooled by the river water it creates a vacuum inside the differential housing which can suck water and other contaminants in and ruin the diff fluid and eventually ruin all of the differential components. That is also why extending the stock diff breather hoses high above the axle is so important. On the flip side, if the axle gets too hot the pressure inside increases enough to where it will blow past the seals releasing grease and oil out of the axle. A differential breather regulates the pressure within the axle. The diff breather in addition to extending the breather lines high above axle height keeps water/contaminants outside and the good clean diff fluid inside which ultimately leaves everything in good condition for years to come.

My Install Process

Once I figured out how my stock breathers were configured the install was really straightforward. The ARB kit I used came with fittings that didn’t work with my axle, so I had to use some vacuum connectors to splice the new ARB lines with my stock lines.

With that done all I had to do was route the lines to my firewall and connect them to the breather manifold.

My stock lines were decently high above the axle but having them both consolidated into the breather manifold high up along the fire wall gives me peace of mind when traversing water crossings and mud holes.

Gear notes

The ARB differential breather kit is what I used for my installation. It comes with good quality connectors/line and the breather manifold is well built and is a convenient design allowing for four breather lines to be connected to it. The manifold does have a small air filter attached to it.

If you’re thinking about installing a differential breather system I would definitely go with this kit.

Amazon link = https://amzn.to/4lZ9SZg