Originally Posted by
jonmar
Hello thought I would strip the front hub/brake today just to get a better idea of how it works. Went o.k. except for one little point in that I could not remove the balls and race from the small side of the hub as it seems to be held in by a circlip/retaining circle of metal. It is my thought that perhaps pressure from the other side would remove the ring but a few tentative prods did not budge it and as I do not really need to get the race out to grease the bearing then I think it is best left in situ. I know that there is a port to oil the bearing but I would prefer to use plenty of grease in the rebuild. I may just look at a few drawings of the rear wheel hub which has a brake and gearing before I take my tools to strip it unless of course you tell me it is easy peasy?. Cheers
That side of the front hub looks similar to the non-drive side of an AW.
I believe that the the little retaining ring in the front hub is just held in place with tension. You might try first some penetrating oil overnight just to make sure you're not dealing with something that's rusted solid, then gently pry the ring out with a straight-slot screwdriver.
In any event, unless you need to change the bearings, you can probably flush the thing out with solvent and then apply new grease without ever removing the retaining ring if you can't get it out.