Front ARB leaking through breather

[Joe Dillard]

Dan, here's what the routing in mine looks like. Never mind the missing ARB carrier bolts.

[TJeeper]

My installer puts a fitting on all the ARB lines he puts in. This makes it easy to unbolt the line and pull the carrier out without having to bend the copper line around. He said since he has been doing that, he has had almost no failures of the copper line leaking where it is soldered to the bearing umm, whatever it is called.

[DsrtJeeper]

Not to sound negative, but I had been considering an ARB up until I read this thread. All but one guy in my group have had ARB problems along with the countless accounts on various boards across the web. It seems the majority puts the installation at fault. One of my buddies became so fed up that he installed the Detroit Electrac. It failed miserably the whole week we were at Moab. First Detroit told him to use a different viscosity fluid and now they had him send the unit in claiming a defect was found. I'm really starting to believe that simpler is better. Am I misinformed????

[Dan-H]

Originally posted by TJeeper
My installer puts a fitting on all the ARB lines he puts in. This makes it easy to unbolt the line and pull the carrier out without having to bend the copper line around. He said since he has been doing that, he has had almost no failures of the copper line leaking where it is soldered to the bearing umm, whatever it is called.

it is called the Seal Housing.

[Robert J. Yates]

I think you have hit the nail on the head as it pertains to the installation comment. Installation expertise makes all the difference between a reliable ARB system and one that is plagued with problems.

I've been running an ARB in the rear of my Jeep for 4+ years now. This ARB was bought used, refurbished with new o-rings prior to installation on my rig and then worked flawlessly until I had it removed this summer. It was rebuilt yet once again to accomodate the carrier break (I was at 3:73 and went to 4:56) and then reinstalled in my Jeep. If ARB's are crap, why is my used one working for me so well?

I am also not anti Detroit - I ran one up front for years and never had a problem - it didn't even bother me on the steering either. Maybe having a higher performance PS pump and cooler helped but they were not always on my rig wihile I was running the Detroit.

That being said, the shock load issue when an axle or u-joint lets go is a real one for Detroits. They tend not to survive that incident and that is the reasoning I used in switching to an ARB up front when I regeared. ARB's being a full spool when locked have a better record on surviving breakage than a auto locker. Think of a ratchet letting go if you torque it to much - that is what a Detroit will do and that was what convinced me to get out of it.

[Dan-H]

Originally posted by DsrtJeeper
Not to sound negative, but I had been considering an ARB up until I read this thread.

I think the quiet successes outweigh the problems many to one.

while I took mine to a very reputable shop, they let this and a few other things slide that should not have happened. I addressed the other things immediately, as they were apparent then. This was a latent failure.

I think the fitting inside the pumpkin makes alot of sense.

I wish I could have routed the tubing up, not down as there is more space above the centerline of the axle. Also, when the rig is parked, my fittings would not be submersed in gear oil.

[DsrtJeeper]

Points well taken. It just seems that there is very little posted about Detroit failures as compared to ARB's.

I personally run a Detroit in the rear and a LockRite up front. I decided to run the LockRite after talking to so many Jeepers here that run them for years without incident. Many guys have sold their used ones to other Jeepers and they are still going strong. I've only broken one outer and the U-joint and it was like a gun shot! The axle splines were twisted and both ball joints flew apart. LockRite survived.

I know; i'm probably on borrowed time.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread here.

[Stu Olson]

Dan,

I finally got around to replacing the o-rings in the rear ARB.

You know, if you want to make sure things are done right, you need to do them yourself. I say this because I found that the installer had kinked/stressed the copper line just where it goes through the bearing cap at the seal housing. It was NOT the source of my leaking o-ring, but as soon as I attempted to move the line a bit so I could extract the locker from the housing, the copper line failed right at that spot. Luckily, I had an extra seal housing sitting on the bench....a good friend mentioned it never hurts to have one handy, just in case....and he was oh so right. The new "re-install" is much better, in my opinion. The shop's gear installer was most helpful and showed me a couple of things that he does to make the task easier. I should have re-read this thread before doing the work yesterday.....and installed a quick disconnect while I was in there!

Details of my project at http://www.stu-offroad.com/arb/arb-9.htm

You can see kind of a dark spot on the copper line, right where it penetrates the seal housing....that is actual a flat spot where it was kinked.



Before sealing up the diff, I did a leak down test. After 45 minutes with pressure to the rear ARB and no compressor cycling (yes, the power was turned on), I decided it was air tight enough for me.

[Kiwi]

nice write-up as usual. You have an axle I haven't seen before... From Stu's write-up: "Note that I have a D40 rear axle with disc brakes."
Is this the intermediate axle between a D35 & D44?

[Stu Olson]

already note by another observant reader (and changed)

Yes, you get a D40 by crossing a HPD30 and a D44

[Dan-H]

nice writeup stu.

I wonder if the notch really needs to be in the center of the bearing cap.

if it were lower, say at the 8 oclock position (looking from the side) then the copper line would be heading down ward and have an easier bend.

[Stu Olson]

Hi Dan,

Your comments might very well be correct. An 8 o'clock position would seem to lend itself to an easier setup.

The tech that helped me a bit also commented that he did not like the location of the bulkhead fitting. He showed me where he drills his (about a half inch different than where mine is) and said it makes it much easier to line up the copper tube, etc. Having known him for well over a year now, I would trust his judgement. I've seen a lot of clean custom work go out of his area.

Anyway, time will tell how the ring replacement went. Keeping my fingers crossed, I am!

[Stu Olson]

Dan,

One last thing that I noticed in regards to my ARB compressor leaking down. I remoted the solenoids from the compressor some time back. When I was replacing the o-rings in the diff last week, I did a leak down test on the locker before I buttoned up the diff cover and poured in the fluid. I let it go for 45 minutes, energized, before I flipped off the locker switch and then turned off the compressor.

Three days later, I turned on the compressor switch . I was going to cycle the solenoid a few times and see if I could see any gear lube working its way out of the solenoid vent. The compressor did not start. Great....now what? I'm trying to figure out what I could have done earlier in the week when I was fixing the o-rings that would cause this. I reached over and flipped the rear locker switch on. I heard the ARB engage. I flipped the switch off and heard it vent. I toggled the locker switch again it engaged and then vented. On the 3rd attempt, the compressor cycled on. It had kept pressure for 72 hrs and then some. Since then, I have checked it a couple more times, going a couple of days between checks and in each case, the compressor has not cycled until I used some of the air on the locker.

Now that is what I call AIR TIGHT!