I am new to Dodge trucks and this forum so bear with me for awhile I'm still a rookie.I recently bought a 98,2wd with a 5.2.Today i saw a hose hanging at the rear of the truck.It was coming from the rear brake distribution box.Ther are four ports in it,one to each rear brake,one towards the front of the truck and one with a rubber hose on it that has a white plug in the end of it.There's no way this hose could be under braking pressure as it is soft like a vacuum line.The white plug seems to be open to the air as I can blow into it and build up a bit of pressure.Any help would be appreciated.

 

That's the rear axle vent hose.

 

Why would it be coming out of the brake distribution box.That is what I thought at first when I seen it hanging there.Also where is it supposed to be attached.

 

I believe it shares the same bolt, which is hollow. On my truck it goes up to the underside of the bed and is attached there.

 

It doesn't even have a bolt on it.It's just attached to the braking system and nowhere else.Almost like it's a soft brake line going nowhere.

 

As mentioned the hose is the axle breather. Hose is attached via a hose barb (hollow bolt) that passes through the distribution block and threads into the axle. It opens into the axle to vent but does not open to the distribution block. The hose barb holds the distribution block down to the axle. They needed to attach the dist block to the axle and vent the axle so used this arrangement to save on parts.
On my 96 the vent line was attached by clips to the soft brake line and went up to drivers side frame rail.

 

Thanks for backing me up, Indy. I was going completely off memory and thought I might have been confused...for a second.

 

Thanks for the info.Just looked like it had something to do with the brakes.I guess a tie wrap around the axle will keep it off the ground.

 

You'll want to keep it up as high as possible so no water gets in it.