DIff Breathers and Snorkel

I plan on doing a diffbreather and a snorkel in the near future...

My question is, should I do one before the other? I've done a few trips where my wheels are about halfway under water, and had to take the higher crossing route because i feared water in the diff/ issues with submerging the whole wheel in the crossing.

Does anyone have negative experience with the TRD pro style snorkel? is there a better one to go with?

 

I've started to see the hoses plug (not the breather) and cause axle seal failures, so I've started to recommend people remove the hose and clean it out with WD40 and compressed air.

I'd say make it easy to service and you'll be fine.

I personally don't like snorkels because most block my line of sight on the right a pillar, but I would recommend the TRD or the ARB for fit and finish. It's been awhile since I've installed one.

I'd still recommend taking shallow routes. You're submerging a lot of connectors that are only water tight for so long.

This is one step that can be taken, I've yet to see if it works long term but it would make me feel better. Remove and put this on all the orings as an extra layer of defence.



My 2 cents!

 

Even with diff breathers and snorkel, you don’t really wanna go above the wheel.

This is the wrong truck to do deep water crossings.

I run stock breathers and stock air box. Had water up to he bottom of my doors but that’s as fas as I’ll go. No issues.

 

Here is how I would look at it when considering these two mods:

• How likely is it that my diff will go under water?
• How likely is it that my hood will go under water?
• If my diff is under water is my hood under water?
• If my hood is under water is my diff under water?

Answering those questions would tell me which item to focus on first.

 

My diffs were submerged multiple times and I’ve had zero issues with stock breathers, just saying.

Also, did you see how low the alternator sits on these trucks? Water over the hood?

I’ve had water over the hood once for a split second. Will never do that shit again.

 

I didn't know that not doing the mod was in the decision matrix. I thought duder was dead set on the two mods so the decision matrix was set up like both mods were a foregone conclusion. You effing up my experiment yo - damn confounding variables.

 

I had planned ondoing both or either, in either case i felt the snorkel would help get cleaner air on my country road commute/ dusty rural texas air... diff breathers were just an idea for water crossings.

 

I would certainly do the diff breather for the rear. I used some parts I already had in the shop a long with an open element filter. If I had to buy bits, I would use the ARB.

I routed to the driver rear tail light area

 

I have a snorkel with a Cyclone precleaner and it's like black magic when it comes to keeping my air filter clear. I do a lot of beach driving and dusty sand trails and swear by my snorkel setup for particle filtration.
As others have stated yeah, a snorkel for water crossings only prevents so much. There are so many electrical components that will fail before you even come close to hydro locking your engine. I've gone in water over 3/4 the wheels, just barely over the door sill with my snorkel but it was only a quick dip, I'm not really staying submerged for more than a few seconds. That said, i still like the snorkel as an insurance policy. IMO better to have it and not need if you do plan on playing around deep mud/water. The only thing is that it's pretty difficult to seal. Even with some after market rubber cuffs and silicone over some leak prone parts of the airbox I still don't trust that mine's totally sealed.

 

What about routing the intake tube into the cowl?

 

The TRD Pro "snorkel" isn't good for water. It's meant as a desert/dusty clean air system.

Diff breather for the rear is a good idea if you cross water above mid wheel/axle, but the front already has a breather a little higher up. As others have stated, you don't want water above the bottom of the body. Too much electrical stuff running along the door jambs and you'll have issues. If you plan to go crossing deep water you'll be better off finding an older vehicle with less electrical vulnerabilities.

 

Our factory diff breathers rely on a temperature difference between the inside of the diff and the surrounding water temps to close. Hot diff, cold water. It creates a suction. When that temperature equalizes the factory breathers will open back up and can let water in. The vacuum that's created can also pull water past the seals. The ARB type breathers use a filter instead of a suction type which lets air move both ways so no vacuum is created that would pull water past the axle seals.