OEMTOOLS 25354 Angle Tip Lock Ring Pliers, 8-1/4 in

These are lock ring pliers, not snap ring pliers. The tips are angled and scored on the outside face so they grab the outer edge of a flat retaining ring that has no eyelet holes to pin into - the kind that sit in a groove on a shaft and have to be spread open from the outside. If you have been trying to pop those off with a screwdriver and a pick, this is the tool that does it without deforming the ring.

The jaws are drop-forged alloy steel and spring-loaded, so they open on their own between grabs, and the handles carry a vinyl grip. Overall length is 8-1/4 inches and the tool weighs about 9.6 ounces. The tips are fairly stout with a squared angle at the end - that is what lets them seat on a lockring's edge, but it also means they are not meant for small hole-type circlips in tight bores. Match the tool to the ring: holed snap rings want a pinned snap ring plier, hole-less lock rings want these.

On the bench they spread lock rings found on clutch shafts, transmission input and output shafts, brake assemblies, pedal shafts, machine-tool spindles, and some piston-ring grooves. Anywhere a flat retaining ring has to open just enough to clear its groove, these get behind it and hold it spread while you slide the shaft or component off.