has anybody done the front breather on a 2nd Gen 4Runner or on a Pick Up? i went to do mine today and there is no room what so ever to get a wrench in there. so now i have the cap on the breather torn off cause i was trying to get more clearance in there. do you think its bad to drive without the little cap on there? how have all you guys done your front breather? thanks
KEVIN

 

I've got one but my diff must be 4" lower that yours due to my lift. It could be bad going without the little cap.

 

Whatever you do, do NOT drive without that cap on.
Crud from the road will go straight into the hole.

 

i guess i'll just put some tape over it for how? i got manual locking hubs, so its not like my diff gears are gonna be turning. has anybody done this without having a lift?

 

I could go try and do mine right now
It's on my to-do list.

 

Another reason to get a locker...

While you have the diff pulled to the locker install, you could fit the extension to the housing. That's how I plan to justify it if my wife asks me...

 

My brother is a piano player and has long fingers, so he fed the nipple in with the tubing attached at stock height. There was no way on God's green earth that my big mits were getting in there.

Otherwise I am not really sure how to do that with normal hands.

 

I somehow managed to do it, but it was a real pain and took forever because of the lack of space.

 

well crap. is there any way to lower the diff? could i just mark where the tbars are and them crank them to lift the front and then put them back to where they were after im done? would that give me any more room? thanks guys.

 

I am pretty sure that by cranking the t-bars that would just push your a-arms down on it doesnt lower the diff at all, correct me if i am wrong?

 

oh yeah, i guess your right.... hmmmmmm so is there any way i can drop the diff temporarily myself so i can get in there?

 

When I was having issues with my ARB line, I put the diff on a jack, undid the two vertical bolts and the one horizontal bolt holding the diff. Then I lowered the diff as far as the slack in the ADD hoses and other lines would allow so I could get my mitts in there. Worked like a charm.

 

Kevin,

One thing I wouldn't do is try to "plug" the hole with anything- that breather is meant to allow pressure to escape as things heat up in the diff.

 

I did it with no lift. I used a barbed nipple thing from lowes and cut a bunch of the barbs off. It was a tight fit but It works.

Pic of extended breather
And here's where I ran the hose

 

im not really trying to plug it up, more just cover it. i don't have to worry about things heating up in the diff that much, cause i have manual locking hubs, so the axels aren't spinning unless im locked, so the only heat would be coming from the oil pan that is right above it. so all in all, i don't really have to worry about it until i need to put it in 4WD and i'd change the gear oil.

and whats this barrbed nipple thing you're talking about?

 

The barrbed nipple is the end of the fitting that you put the tube on. I went up to McLendon's yesterday and picked up a 1/8" NPT x 1/4 Barb 90 degree fitting. I'm not sure if it is going to make it easier to get it in there but it's not going to have any clearance problems.

 

The 90 degree fittings dont work because of where the breather is set on the differential. If you look at it you'll know what I'm talking about. I bought a $10 90 degree piece from toyota which was supposed to be the right part only to find out I couldn't use it.

 

Well crap. It looks like it would fit do you mean that it doesn't have clearance to screw in?

 

i still wanna know how you guys got the old breather out! hahahahaha. i guess i'll try dropping the diff how flygtenstein suggested.

oh and i ended up going and getting what Rob (WATRD) used. it worked great for the back, but i think ima have to cut/grind it down to get it up front. but i have to get the stock breather off first!!! i can barely get a wrench in there, let alone unscrew it.

 

Where do you get the parts that are threaded to replace the old breathers?

Edit: I posted this as KevyWevy was editing. Where do you get that union thing? And is it the same one for both front and rear diffs?