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What if we are overthinking the problem? Carraro builds axles for a whole range of heavy equipment. Most of them are used in construction/hauling machines, and I've never personally seen raised diff breathers on such machines. It doesn't make sense to raise a breather which only vents out. Maybe it has a lot to do with the beam axle internals and type of the seals. I think that some positive pressure inside the diff is a very desirable thing to have by design, this actually prevents the water getting inside through the seals more than having it at atmospheric pressure and submerged in 80cm of water (if using atmospheric breathers - because it makes no sense to extend the breathers if using the same one-way vent).
Ineos never said that you can park your car in 80cm of water. As long as the engine is running, the air fan is on max on fresh air and you are moving, there is no time for sufficient water to get in anywhere to cause damage.
But if you stall, or stop, or park in 80cm of water, then it becomes a problem.
Maybe we need a more complex mathematical model of why we are doing raised breathers, myself included in my LC80. What are the pressure differences inside the diff between atmospheric breathers and closed one-way breathers when submerged in different depths of water, for example.
Maybe we are wasting our time and resources to solve problems that do not exist. Dunno, just sayin...
This is what I learned many years ago:
The factory-installed differential breather - which is not raised but is located on the differential housing - can get clogged by driving thorough mud, or under other circumstances. If the breather gets clogged, and you are driving under conditions in which the inside of the differential is heating up, the rising pressure cannot escape through the breather. Under such conditions, differential oil typically gets forced down one axle shaft, and out the axle seal.
When driving through cold water, pressure inside the differential can drop. If the breather is plugged with mud or sludge, it is possible that the pressure will equalize by sucking water in through the axle and pinion seals.
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