"Water Proofing" The Under Carrage

[georgexplorer]

I am trying to Winterize and Water Proof my 02 Ranger Edge. Everything I have read states very clearly not to go through deep water due to the tranny vent tube. Well a lot of the trails I take involve crossing small rivers that swell to 3(ish) foot deep. So I am looking for any response or ideas on how to seal things up!
I took a 3 foot cut of vacuum hose with a "Breather" on one end and attached it to the Vent tube. The filter is tucked between my fuse box and my firewall, will this work?

 

[Rabbit]

I personally have never had a problem with water getting in my tranny through the vent tube but I would assume the hose extension would do rather nicely for preventing the possibility.

Mods,
"Waterproofing the Drivetrain" actually sounds like a good topic for the Tech Library. Just my $.02

 

[georgexplorer]

Sorry Im new to the site and not sure where to find everything

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

extending the vent should do. dont forget you have a vent for the t-case and one for each axle too.

 

[georgexplorer]

Where would I find the t-case and axle vents? I crawled around for about a half hour looking for anything else but couldn't find anything.

 

[Dishtowel]

T Case vent is on the front , just to the inside of where the front drive shaft comes out, and, I hate to say this but axle vents are obvious (if they are still there, and havn't been cleared off by a large rouge branch). On the 8.8 it should be on the top of the axle tube, drivers side. The front axle vent should be similar to the rear one, if they are still stock they are probably a little piece of rubber hose shaped like a question mark.

Edit: If you look JUST to the inside of my rear drivers side shock you can see the rear axle vent tube going up and bending slightly to the left. See it?

 

[georgexplorer]

OK Thank you.... now what do I do if there not there? On the rear axle there is only one tube that comes out of the Diff, witch splits and goes into the brakes..(Is this normal ?) In the front I did notice a rubber plug looking thing in the right spot that; it could have been a tube at one point in time.

 

[Dishtowel]

There has to be SOME sort of breather apparatus. The heat changes inside that axle when you drive, thus the space required by the gear oil and air in the diff changes as well. The breather on my trans was blocked for a while and because of this the trans was pushing oil past the front seal and I had a annoying drip.

There HAS to be something, jack it up, preferable in the middle of the day when you have the most light, crawl under there with a scraper of some sort and you will find something. It's there, I promise. On new quads they are doing whats called an 'accordian' style breather. It is not a 'breather' at all. It is just a little tube with crimping so that it is like a bellow. The tempurature change in a axle is veryvery little if it is operating properly, so this tiny (approx 3-4") bellow is more than up to the job of handling the volume change. This is something you might want to look into for YOUR axles if you drive through water like this. I dont think *I* will put one on because I dont want to spend $5 just to have it clotheslined off by a stick every trip. (I am always 'logging' when I go out wheeling.)

On the front, the rubber plug you saw was very possibly your FILL hole for gear oil, I think my Dakota just has rubber plugs for a fill into the axle. Unless it had a fitting to attach a small hose to aswell I doubt this is your breather, your breather will be at the top of the tube or the diff houseing, so as it see's air and not oil.

Good luck, and have fun learning the underbelly of your truck.

 

[georgexplorer]

I'll keep hunting, Thank you. Does anyone have any other ideas or things I should watch out for? Winterizing? I had a 98 Exploder and traded it in for a car.... BAD MOVE... now back to a truck, so everything I thought I knew is out the window. I bought the truck used and I just want to get everything done before snowboarding season so I dont have to worry.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the reason ATV's can get away with a sealed vent system is because the axles, and therefor the airspace inside them, is very small. i think it was MAKG that did the math a while back and the accordion that would be needed for a truck axle was inconveniently large.

your best bet is to buy some vacuum line and extend the breathers as high as possible. i ran 3 of mine up to the engine compartment and attached them to the firewall near the brake booster (still havent come up with a way to seal the M5OD).

 

[georgexplorer]

Do you have any pictures of this available?

 

[Dishtowel]

Do you have any pictures of this available?

Both Sludge and my axles are differnt than yours I think. We have TTB and you have traditional A-arm suspension I think. Thus different axle housing, thus different breather location. Have you jacked it up and crawled around under it?

 

[georgexplorer]

Thank you guys! I will get under it once I get home from work, I'll try to get some pictures tonight. Anyone with a front indipendant sus have any pics of something like this?

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

OK Thank you.... now what do I do if there not there? On the rear axle there is only one tube that comes out of the Diff, witch splits and goes into the brakes..(Is this normal ?)

That is the brake line, don't mess with that. Like Dishtowel said, the rear axle vent should be on the driverside axle tube (not on the differential itself) His picture is great, you can see the vent hose coming up right between the shock and the front tire of his BII in the picture.

 

[georgexplorer]

OHH, Please excuse, Im an idiot! I was looking at the front axle not the back... WOW that would explain why I couldn't find it last night, I was looking at the diff not the axle. Sorry guys