I need some live axil design tips!

[Travis Covington]

Originally Posted by Cory

a properly seated 7/16" snap ring can take a 3,000 lbf thrust load, if I remember correctly. The key here is properly seated. As long as you can cut the groove properly, ensure proper axial spacing so the snap ring groove isn't interfered with, and don't re-use snap rings, you shouldn't experience any problems.

This sounds right for ring shear, but if you use a material with a lower yield strength than the retaining ring itself, you will likely see a lower thrust load capacity due to groove yield. With 7075 or something similar, you should still get ~2000 lbf of thrust load capacity. These theoretical calculations assume a perfectly round retaining ring with no seam, so real numbers will vary.