80 Series Factory difflock breathers

The following page shows the factory breathers for the factory f/r difflocks.

To preempt water intrusion into the actuators I traced the factory breather lines.

Some people have had problems with their factory difflock actuators rusting out from water intrusion.
In the case of my '97 80 series it appears that the breathers are reasonably located, though easily extended if desired.

The following pictures show the routing of the rear difflock factory breather line. The breather line commences as a black hose at the difflock actuator at the rear diff and runs inside the slit sleeving until it exits as shown in the following picture. It then runs over the chassis member and enters the body as shown.

The next picture shows the breather line terminating behind the USDS rear wheel inside the body. It is easily accessed by opening the rear panel that encloses the factory jack and emergency tool kit. It can easily be extended by slipping a 5/32" ID hose over the breather line which is a nice tight fit. The extended hose can then be run up the inside of the body skin to a point a couple of feet higher than original. A self stick block with a tiewrap can be used secure the end of the new hose. The end of the hose can be bent to point downwards to prevent any dirt entering the hose. Since the original hose end was in the lower portion of the body cavity - in the remote chance that it filled with water the breather would have been submerged.

Next we tackle the front difflock breather. The following picture shows the breather hose starting at the front locker actuator. It then enters the wiring harness that is highlighted. This harness works its way up along the chassis and over the USPS inside front wheel fender.

The following picture shows the breather hose exiting the wiring harness and terminating on the top of the USPS wheel fender. Unlike the rear breather (that ended inside the rear body panel), the front breather is exposed to the elements. Toyota has capped the end of the front breather hose with a rubber cap that has several slits in it - I assume to prevent dirt entering but allowing for air pressure equalization.

The following shows the extension of the original hose with a 5/32" ID hose that is a nice tight fit when slipped over it. I then slipped the original slit rubber end cap over the end of my extension hose. I ran the extended hose up and over the wiper motor so that it's end points down.