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Getting that pesky keeper washer out

I've found that picking out the large spring from the hub can be frustrating and time-consuming. The ends of the keeper spring that comes with the floater hub look like this (sorry about the fuzzy photo!)

To get this out, you need to use a sharp pick and lift up the keeper. For illustration purposes, the next photo shows a modified keeper in a hub on the bench. The pick is inserted in a modified end that is ground to make it much easier to get your pick on it to lift.

What's the difference? See the next photo, showing how I ground the keeper spring so you can get your pick under the keeper spring and lift it out without the pick slipping off the keeper as it does with the keeper the way it comes from the factory.

With just about a minute of grinding, you have a keeper that saves you tons of time without the frustation. If you are very, very careful with your grinding, you won't destroy the temper in the that last fraction of an inch at the end. Personally, I didn't worry about that.

Sometimes I use two picks, one to hold one end of the keeper while I pick up the other end.

With this little mod, getting those keepers out is a snap! Yuk yuk! "Snap." get it? Uhh, well so much for my feeble attempt at humor. Have fun anyway!

Jim