Lisle 38700 Spindle Snap Ring Pliers for Ford Super Duty

The Lisle 38700 is a purpose-built plier for the internal snap ring that holds the front unit wheel bearing in the steering knuckle on Ford Super Duty trucks. On these front ends the hub and bearing come as one sealed assembly, and that assembly is retained by a large retaining ring seated deep in a 2-1/2 inch bore. Standard internal snap ring pliers either will not reach that far into the bore or the ring keeps popping off the tips while you fight it. This tool is ground for exactly that job.

Two things make it work: the tips are narrow and rigid so they drop straight into the 2-1/2 inch inside diameter of the hub and sit in the ends of the ring, and a ratcheting lock mechanism holds the ring compressed once you squeeze it. That means you can open the snap ring, let the ratchet hold it, and then work the hub out with both hands instead of trying to hold the pliers and pull the bearing at the same time.

Fitment: Ford F-250, F-350, F-450 and F-550 Super Duty front wheel hubs (2005 and newer body style) that use the snap-ring-retained front unit bearing. The typical job is pulling the caliper, rotor, and axle nut, backing the hub out to expose the ring in the bore, then seating the tips in the ring ends and letting the ratchet lock hold it open while the bearing comes out. Installation is the reverse.

It is made by Lisle, a US tool maker, in alloy steel with a plastic-gripped handle. This is a single-purpose tool, not a general snap ring set, so it earns its space in the box the first time you replace a Super Duty front wheel bearing without chewing up the ring or the bore.