The diff breather is a section of hose that runs from your differential to a higher up position in the vehicle, quite often in the engine bay. The hose runs to the diff through a push fitting and has a filter at the other end. If you're off road in water a lot, put a diff breather at the top of your shopping list.
Diff breathers are essential if you'll be off road in water. Think of it this way, when you go through water that is as deep as your diff height, you are effectively dipping a really hot component into sometimes freezing water - which through physics means shrinkage and air induction.
Without a diff breather, the protection comes from oil seals and these don't work too great under water, and they will generally let water pass through the seals to mix with the oil inside. So as you can see diff breathers are a crucial bit of kit... get up to speed with these crucial FAQs.
The question should be, why not? Diff breathers are very low cost protection against potentially very expensive damage. The kit can be as low as $40 - plus labour if you can't install yourself - whereas to fix the damage could be up to $2000.
Probably. But most factory fit diff breathers don't go up high enough for decent off road driving. Have a look and see if the filters sit above the highest type of water crossing you want to tackle.
Yes, easy as pie! Even if you have minimal mechanical prowess, you'll be fine. Just remove the diff breather that comes with the vehicle using a spanner, apply thread tape to the new fitting and screw in. Connect the hose from the fitting to the engine bay, taking care to avoid any hot parts, and cable tie as you go. Once the hose reaches the engine bay, mount a small bracket, attach the fittings and a filter and boom, that's it!
