how do i get off the huge mama jamma snap ring that holds the outer sleeve in the hub thats crusted stuck after years of use? regular sears snap rings do not even come close to budging this thing. i was told i could rent pretty big ones at autozone/pepboys, etc. Also told to go to mazda, but dealers cant even find me axle nuts so i dont have high hopes for that option. was wondering for those of you who have done this before, what did you use? Thanks alot

ps, i searched, and found no mention.

 

I used a fairly large pair of snap ring pliers that I think came from NAPA. They worked, but I had to help them out a bit with some needle-nose vice grips.

Ebay has lots of snap ring pliers and sets. I've seen some real nice ratcheting Snap-on (Blue Point) pliers for about $30 - $40 that would make the job easy.

Wear goggles or saftey glasses!

 

Ha, the dealer in my home town had trouble not getting me an axle nut. I asked for a castelated nut, said the size (something like 10x1.5?) said what it's for, then two weeks later when it arrived I was shown an axle nut (the stupid parts guy tried to tell me that's what I'd ordered so I had to buy it, screw that!). I wan't impressed and made them get me the right thing by the next week.