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hey fellow ford nuts. i am having trouble getting the snap ring off to remove my hub. i have tried from large to other different pairs at my buddy's shop, with no success. is there a brand that i can buy that someone has used before. also, the axle seal that i had delivered looks to big. it came with the inner "dust cover" seal. do i need one for each side replacing my hubs u joints, upper and lower ball joints, and tie rod bushings. the seals came with the u-joints as a set. they are 5 1/2" in diameter. any tips /tricks that someone might have for me that could help would be very much appreciated. thanks in advance. 2012 f-250 SD XL 4X 4 6.2
If your talking the circlip that is down inside the hub holding the axle shaft then take a pry bar and stick it thru the ujoint area and push the axle stub toward you, trying to push the clip further off the bearing so you get more tooth thru the clip and give you a better chance of spreading it and at least getting it up on the splines where you could in worse case drag it off there. If you get it off in under 5 stabs of the circlip pliers your a pro and Ford would like to offer you a job, those circlips SUCK. I've had decent luck with the garbage freight large locking clip pliers, You use the blue set and the straight teeth. Grind the end to eliminate the chamfer, you want the tooth literally at 90 so the clip doesn't slip off, make it a ton of fun to stab the clip with the blunt ends with no lead in.
yes nydiver,i found that out sunday. ford would have definitely would not even have hired me on as a janitor after my ordeal. going back this weekend with a set from e- bay made for the 250...allegedly. anyway, thanks for the tips. I'll try to post my progress to give you guys some entertainment, with me never having been under a front end before and all. peace
This is the Lisle pair. I don't remember the part number. They have a ratcheting hold-open mechanism that makes it a lot easier to deal with the snap ring, even though the ratchet can be a bit fiddly. The one complaint I have, and it applies to nearly all snap ring pliers, is they need to be either serrated or coated with diamond dust to grip the snap ring better. Almost nobody does that.
