Hub question...snap ring

[76/85 Truck]

Hey guys

I found some hubs off a mid '60s dodge that fit my truck... and the drivers side went on without a problem. However, when I went to put on the passengers side, I had barely enough room to put on the snap ring. The snap ring is right up against the locking hub (I have external locking hubs).

Will this cause any problems? I'm afraid it is going to pop off the axle. Is the snap ring really necessarily? It doesn't seem like it is on the axle shaft real well...

Thanks in advance!

[TDS-MN]

Funny, I just re-did my hubs last weekend. When I took the driver side cap off, my snap ring was just kinda laying there, some grease was holding it in place sort of. Never did really have any issues with hub function or anything falling off the truck for what that might be worth.

I actually found that, when we were trying to put everything back togther, that we needed to apply a little push outboard on the axle shaft, to get the 'ridge' that the snap ring hooks into, to protrude out from the hub assembly enough to really snap the ring on properly. Was easy enough for me, since we had the front diff all open and drained. There was just enough play to allow the axle shaft to move that fraction of an inch. Not sure that there would be a way to accomplish the same without being able to get at the other end of teh axle, unfortunately. Maybe some sort of puller that could grab onto the axle shaft? My shaft has a small hole in the center of that end, that a person might be able to thread something into, maybe enoughto pull outward a little bit?

Good luck!

[djulbert]

Take a crow bar, or something similar, and put it in the u joint knuckle and push it out toward the wheel. Just went through this about a month ago. Nasty greasy job, isn't it?

[76/85 Truck]

TDS-MN - thanks! there was barely enough room (like you said, fraction of an inch) to get the axle to move towards the wheel. Had to use djulbert's trick

Yes it is a greasy job... Well today I tore back into it after driving it about 15 miles... Snap ring was still on the slot on the axle. Must be okay. I can get it in the groove but the snap ring is right up against the hub... I guess after I put the 6 bolts on nothing is going anywhere....

Originally Posted by djulbert

Take a crow bar, or something similar, and put it in the u joint knuckle and push it out toward the wheel. Just went through this about a month ago. Nasty greasy job, isn't it?

Tried that trick, worked perfect! Thanks!

[TDS-MN]

Hey, that is indeed a good trick, I hadn't thought of accessing it there and being able to put some pressure on it.

On my Warn hubs, that snap ring does ride right up against part of the locking mechanism of the hub assembly. Always has. Pretty sure that when the hub is put into 'lock' mode, that center section move inward and away from the snap ring.

Sounds like you should be all set now. Glad that it worked out for you.