Project Mall Runner

[ScottyB]

poor Mall Runner's been living up to its name lately.  pretty much hasn't moved in a month, just sitting collecting dust now that Jen and i are both fully work from home thanks to the beerdisease.

knocked the pollen off with a good soak and wipedown of optimum no-rinse and vac'd the mulch out of the inside after hauling that + all the stones home for our landscaping project earlier this spring.


finally got around to building an extended rear diff breather.  the front diff breather is mounted quite high from the factory, but in the back its just a little button breather on the top of the pumpkin. we were just about over the axle line the first time we forded a creek during our camping trip last year and it'll happen a lot in the future.  there are various ways to do it, and a few kits out there (most popular is ARB) but i wanted rubber line instead of plastic for the best flexibility (and less chance of cracking from thermal cycling) and i wanted the breather to terminate in the engine bay for the best protection from the elements while ensuring any smells are well outside the cab.  so, the best option was to piece my own together. some guys run the filter to the gas cap bay or inside the cab in the space where the jack and toolkit are mounted but no thanks.  total cost was a bit less than the ARB kit and the filter height sits at around 40" high now, or roughly intake height.  frankly at that point if we're in water that deep it means i have a lot of reflecting to do on my life choices while a wrecker pulls us out of a lake.

there are 2 total lines off the axle to vent - the axle housing itself and the e-locker unit.  so, you have to tee those lines together to keep things tidy and that meant building a little junction out of some brass barbs and a 1/4" threaded tee fitting.

under the hood....cheap 12mm filter mounted to some scrap aluminum and re-used a bracket bolt to mount to.  1/4" fuel line all the way back.  12 ft of it (it came in 2 six foot packages) was exactly enough.  even though it used more line to do so, i chose to mount on the passenger side due to the ease of mounting and the fact i have no plans to mount anything else there (some off road guys add another battery there).  i tucked the line up on the frame rail and crossed over the drive shaft using a conduit for some other line and wires so it was protected.  then sent it over the fuel tank and back to the axle.


looking towards the rear, over the top of the axle pumpkin.  the open tube is where the e-locker breather used to go but now connects to the brass junction.  top line heads up to the filter, rear line connects to the axle breather.  i was able to mount the brass junction to the pedestal where the e-locker wires are mounted to take any strain off of the rubber lines having to support it.


from the back of the axle looking forward.  the axle breather was replaced with a toyota OEM part that has an extended barb to mount the line on.  plenty of slack in the fuel line going forward from the junction to allow articulation without yanking the line apart.