VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Axle Tube Vent Installation

At long last I was able to work on a car again. Along with having two kids taking up most of my time, the wall in our house rotted out because the geniuses that built it allowed the roof to be about 2 inches short of reaching the wall and then decided to fix that problem by laying shingles over the gap. The entire wall had to come out, along with a good portion of the floor and I had to tear it all out and put it all back, which I'm still in the process of finishing.




I found this vent online for $5.00.


While I was drilling the hole I continually kept the area as clean as a surgical incision to prevent the savings from falling into the axle housing.


After sticking a magnet down in the hole and cleaning out anything that may have possible fallen in the hole I taped it using a 1/8 pipe thread tap.


And here it is in place, in it's final location. This installation was very simple and didn't take very long. I'll have to remember if I cross a creek to not let the water get above the vent. Only time will tell if this fixes the problem, but for now I feel confident it will.

Hi Vetteman,
I was under the impression that the 29 - 32 models had a vent in the rear axle. I have been searching all over for one BUT from the pictures, it seems as if you drilled a new hole or have you only enlarged the existing vent?

My 1929 did not have a vent in the rear end axle assy. I installed the same type vent also do to sealed axle bearings being installed

I installed one like this on our 32 after I replaced the old seals....

It's a new hole. According to the information I found on this site several others have had the problem of grease coming out of the ends of the axles after installing sealed axle bearings. The '31 did not have a vent because the original felt axle bearings allowed the pressure to stabilize to outside pressure. The new style bearings do not allow this, so a vent must be added or the pressure buildup inside the differential will push grease out of wherever the path of least resistance is.

Interesting thread.

I put neoprene outer seals on the rear axle of my '27 and '28 trucks in order to keep the bearing grease from getting into the brake area.

I suspect that there are no factory vents in the pre-1929 rear axle housings.

What are your collective thoughts about adding such a vent to let any pressure that builds up in the rear axle housing normalize with the outside air?

Thanks, Dean

In our '31 I used sealed bearings and replaced the felt seals with neoprene seals and have never had a problem keeping the brakes clean.

I thought I'd follow up and say that I've driven the car quite a bit since installing the vent and I have not had any seepage from the axle seals (and yes, I've made sure the trans isn't empty, hehe).

Good idea if you don't know if rear bearings and seals and are original or not or if you have seepage. Easier than new seals. Sometimes you get lucky. An overfilled gear case will also push oil past seals.

Couldn't remember if originally they had felt or leather seals. Either one is porous enough to relieve the small amount of pressure that will develop. Now I know.


Those bottle cap vents have been around a long time, work well and are used on heavy equipment and trucks. In fact the early ones were made using a bottle cap. THey won't let any more water in during normal operation than what builds up from condensation. You might get some in the housing if you left it submerged overnight.

I imagine you greased the tap and drill using the slowest speed the drill would cut to prevent any swarf from getting into the case. Although I doubt that a couple of pieces of shavings would damage the third member of a car driven occasionally at relatively low speeds. THese old cars are tough given the conditions they were operated under and the level of maintenance they got when new and then in the secondary market.

Good job, good information, nice pictures. Thank you.

Tony

I drilled a hole through the top bolt of the rear end and then put a loose fitting cotter pin in it for my vent. It seems to be doing the job because I drive all over with my 31. That also puts the vent up a little higher.

Wow, Sal, that is REAL old school. My kind of repair since I have never had trouble drilling oversize holes.

Love it.

Motor on.

Tony