2nd Gen axle vent mod write-up

[badbrad358]

All,
After helping a friend replace his pinion and axle seals on his '05 Frontier I decided to modify the vent on my M226 axle this past weekend. The amount of work and cost to replace his seals is not something I want to have to do a lot.

See attached the write-up on how I modified this vent, I think it turned out quite well and when I drained the axle lube after installing the vent it drained incredibly fast compared to the old vent where it had to glug out due to air (think of pouring a 2 liter). This was enough for me to realize our old vent wasn't allowing air to come back into the axle, which is not a good situation and can cause excessive seal wear.

[ffips]

Thank you for the write up. I don't think I have seen one done as a PDF yet. Any chance you could copy past it into the thread? Some here will NOT go to any link or download anything.

There was a thread discussing this exact thing a while back. As I browsed that thread, it sent one to many other threads. Any way, long story short, I may have stumbled upon the Nissan part number for the fitting you purchased from Toyota.

Nissan part # = 38323-C6010. I cannot confirm that this fits, however, it is a valid number from Nissan parts. It is also mentioned in all those other threads as something the toyota guys were buying to do the same thing to their axles.

For even more water clearance, I have seen them mounted up behind tail lights.

[khmaiaznboi89]

that's a very nice right up!
i dont think i've even seen install sheets that nice

[bigriver]

WOW! very nice writeup.

i also wouldn't mind seeing one on pinion and axle seals...

[bassman]

Good writeup Brad. And thanks again for the help on the axle seals last weekend....it was a JOB!!

Sorry big river, we didn't think to take pictures while replacing the seals. I can say it's a harder job than the factory manual acts like it it (at least in my case). Either of us can answer any questions you have if you plan on replacing a pinion or axle seal...and I can show you a pic of the tool I had to make to get off the pinion seal nut

[dubie2003]

Nice Mod, did you get this from ClubTitan or TalkTitan or MightyTitans?

Also, I am not sure how this will do in a wet off-road situation. For someone in that situation I would highly recommend that they snake the hose around to the Passenger Taillight.

In the end thou, this is a lot better then the stock valve that always gets dirty and stuck.

[mudyfronty05]

Fantastic write up! Only a couple of things that I did different-

I reused the original vent fitting by prying off the metal cap on top and got the right size hose to fit that.

I mounted my filter behind my taillight and I used a valve cover filter to cap it off.

[badbrad358]

Thanks for all the comments, it seems everyone is on the same page overall. I felt routing to the tail light was a bit overkill as almost every truck I've been around and worked on had a axle vent hose routed to a high location near the axle with the end turned down.

Besides, if I ever get in water/mud deep enough to risk getting down this long hose run I am going to need to change the axle lube anyway because most likely I've gotten water past the seals into the gears. But I think either install is good.

I'm not sure if this write-up should be linked in the General Discussion board or not, if somebody wants to do it feel free. I think people need to do this mod if they want to save a lot of headaches and $$$.

Originally Posted by khmaiaznboi89

that's a very nice right up!
i dont think i've even seen install sheets that nice

I have to do a lot of instruction type write-ups in my job, so this was a piece of cake. Glad you like it, share with all Nissan guys needing some help!

[EB_05_NISMO]

Originally Posted by badbrad358

I'm not sure if this write-up should be linked in the General Discussion board or not, if somebody wants to do it feel free.

I put a link in the "DIY Stickies" thread.

[bassman]

I'm kind of on the same page with Brad on venting to the taillight; it's fine if you want to do it but I don't see a need for 95% of us. But to those of you that have 4X4's did do that, did you re-route the vent from your front axle also? I'm not around my truck right now to go see what the stock vent is like, but I'm just curious if anyone's changed anything.