Axle tube vents?

[Doc Dave]

Thanks Norm.
Will do, as I do not want to have a chance for water in the diff. I do not want the truck to be a trailer queen, so she will get it a little wet occasionally.
One other thing. The TC vent is a b#tch to get to without going to the trouble of raising the back of the cab or taking off the ebrake. I guess it is less likely there will be an issue with that one unless one goes really deep in water, which is unlikely for me.

[MoparNorm]

Yeah, some TC vents are really hard to FIND, much less modify!

[greg rider]

Here is a pic of the new brake hose and lines. I got lucky with everything. The breather bolt gave me the biggest fight. Lots of heat on the axle tube and copious usage of PB Blaster finally broke it loose. [IMG][/IMG]

[KRB64]

The PO (state police in my case) had broken mine off flush with the tube. I never noticed it until I replaced the lines. Easy out took it out OK though.

[MoparNorm]

The PO (state police in my case) had broken mine off flush with the tube. I never noticed it until I replaced the lines. Easy out took it out OK though.

Any idea how long it was missing? Have you ever looked inside of the axle? (maybe you don't want to look)...

[KRB64]

about 10 years...

Thats what I thought too, I was afraid to look. But the oil had splashed and made a seal with dirt I guess .

No water, no dirt, no rust. Got lucky I guess. I had drained it all when I got it so I guess that helped some.

[2x1972]

what is the purpose of this vent? When i got my '72 w200 i found that mine was completely missing. I didnt realize this until I had taken it through several floor pan deep mudholes. I didnt even know it was a vent until now. when I pulled the diff cover everything looked great, and so i put it back together and just ran a bolt through the hole to keep mud and water out. Is that an okay fix?

[KRB64]

As the gears mesh they create heat and the hot air expands. Drive through floor pan water and that cools it off so the air contracts. All that air expanding and contracting has to go somewhere. It'll either blow out seals & gaskets or, hopefully, thru the tube vent instead.

[MoparNorm]

As the gears mesh they create heat and the hot air expands. Drive through floor pan water and that cools it off so the air contracts. All that air expanding and contracting has to go somewhere. It'll either blow out seals & gaskets or, hopefully, thru the tube vent instead.

...and heat creates evaporation which turns to water and water turns to rust...