DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT:
A differential / axle breather serves the important purpose on a 4WD vehicle of venting the air pressure in your drivetrain assemblies such as differentials, gearbox and transfer case. When these assemblies heat up under normal operation the air inside expands increasing the pressure and needs to be vented to atmosphere. 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. The factory breather is usually a one-way valve mounted directly to the axle housing or remotely on a short tube. The shortfall with the factory breathers arises particularly when driving through water crossings where the drivetrain assembly will cool rapidly creating a vacuum. This vacuum will close the one-way valve tightly shut causing air to be instantly drawn into the assembly through the axle/shaft seals. However because the seals are probably still submersed below water the water will be drawn into the drivetrain contaminating the oil and possibly damaging drivetrain components or your Air Locker. The contaminated oil will then need to be changed. The ARB Differential Breather Kit is designed to eliminate these shortcomings by providing a high flow, zero backpressure, zero vacuum breather system. This is achieved with a central high flow air filter and manifold that will allow up to four drivetrain assemblies to be vented to one central location 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 fittings can be purchased separately to connect up to four assemblies to the central manifold. (Part number 170113) The ARB Differential Breather Kit is unique in that it uses 8mm tubing (where most other kits use 6mm tubing). The larger size tubing is essential in 4X4 applications where off camber driving can cause oil to enter and block smaller breather lines.
FEATURES:
• The axle breather manifold is machined from billet aluminium and anodised making it lightweight and resistant the elements.
• The manifold has 4 axle breather ports allowing for between 1 and 4 breather lines to be connected, yet it is very compact allowing it to be installed in virtually any location.
• The kit comes with self tapping screws, but the manifold mounting holes are large enough to allow mounting using an M6 (1/4 inch) bolt or stud which is the common size in most vehicle engine bays.
• The air filter is the ARB compressor air filter, which is a splash resistant air filter with a washable high flow sintered bronze filter cartridge.
• 8mm Polyethylene tubing is flexible, oil resistant, water resistant and heat resistant.
• 8mm tubing has been selected over the standard 6mm tubing to improve the breathability and reduced the chance of oil blockages in long breather lines.
• The 8mm push in fittings make the installation simple and fast.
KIT CONTENTS:
The ARB Differential Breather Kit includes:
• Anodised Aluminium Manifold with 5 ports and 2 mounting holes
• 4 x 1/8”BSP ports for connecting up to 4 breather lines
• 1 x 1/4” NPT ports for the air filter
• Air filter assembly
• 4 x 8mm-1/8”BSP push in fittings
• 3 x 1/8”BSP plugs for plugging unused ports
• 8m x 8mm Polyethylene tubing
• 2 x self tapping screws
• 25 x cable ties