Pro Tip for Hub Removal
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Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 7,960
Likes: 594
From: Greater Austin, Texas
Pro Tip for Hub Removal
I was doing a brake job on my neighbor's Bronco and I could not get a screwdriver up underneath the snap ring that runs around the inside of the hub housing like I usually do to pry that booger out of there. It's always a hassle, but I can manage, but not this one. It would not give. Then I noticed a little hole on the outside face of the hub. I poked a drill bit thru it and, voila, the ring jumped out of the groove. So I am not taking credit for this idea, but it's not Ford's, because only 1 side had the hole. I guess the last guy to work on this truck had the same problem. So I drilled a hole on the other side exactly 1/4" in from the edge and, man what a difference. The drill bit I used was 5/64". The following week I adjusted the wheel bearings on the same neighbor's daughter's truck, an F150 4x4. Hers did not have the holes, either, so I drilled em. I wish I had come upon this sooner, I don't know how many of those things I have wrestled out in the past. This way is super easy, and, when the snap ring is in place, it blocks off the hole from the inside. Hope this helps someone else.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 7,960
Likes: 594
From: Greater Austin, Texas
Snap ring pliers are for the smaller snap ring that is on the axle shaft. The bigger, outer snap ring I am speaking of, will not take snap ring pliers because there are no holes in it.
Hotshot
Joined: Jun 2015
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I use a screwdriver to hold one end of the ring (so it won’t spin in the groove) and a small angled pick to get under the ring and lift it up. I guess the hole works but I’m not too keen on drilling a hole in my hub(s).
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Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 7,960
Likes: 594
From: Greater Austin, Texas
I use a screwdriver to hold one end of the ring (so it won’t spin in the groove) and a small angled pick to get under the ring and lift it up.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 7,960
Likes: 594
From: Greater Austin, Texas
What seals the water out?
The snap ring in the groove inside the hub.
smear some red rtv over hole, that way no water gets in
You could do that if you wanna be double safe. Unless you are parking the truck in water over the hub level, I don't see it as a big problem. As long as the hub is turning, it is my belief the snap ring on the inside and the rotational force of the hub will keep out normal water splashes (such as driving in the rain). The Bronco I found the existing hole on had no evidence inside the hub of water intrusion.
Elder User
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 534
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From: Chesapeake
Are you drilling after getting the snap ring out of the way or targeting in-between the ends? I have not been into my hubs (yet) but I am filing this away into my facts the internet told me about 
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