OK, so I’m trying to remove the spider assembly from the end of an 88 axle and I’m having issues getting it to slide off. I have slid the spacer ring up the axle and exposed the shaft retaining ring. I know I have to remove this ring but I can’t seem to get it. What am I doing wrong? The snap-ring pliers that I use for everything else don’t seem to work, is there a trick to it.

I am following the directions on page 4D-7 of the 88 Service Manual. The picture on the lower right shows a diagram and it says “Shaft retaining ring, remove from axle shaft then slide spider assembly off axle”.

Again, is there a trick to removing the ring?

Thanks

Rob

I usually use a couple of picks. Put the pick in one of the splines and get it in between the ring and axle groove and pry it out slightly, then you can put another pick in behind it and work it off the shaft. Start at the gap in the ring and work your way around. I suppose you could use a couple of dental pics but I'm not sure they would be strong enough.

[This message has been edited by seajai (edited 08-29-2013).]

I used a big set of needle nose pliers and opened them up.

[This message has been edited by DaytonTD (edited 08-29-2013).]

quote Originally posted by DaytonTD: I used a big set of needle nose pliers and opened them up.

I tried this too, it seems to me that this ring is much thinner than the others, and because of that the groove is much thinner too. Its been hard to get anything into the groove. Again its not so much the "what do I do" but the "how". I guess i'll put the axle into my vise so I have two hands to work with, the way I was doing it I had one hand holding the axle (all greased up) and one had on the snap-ring pliers.

Thanks all