You do not need to remove the mast to repair the snap ring......the first reduction gear, bearing and new snap ring can be had as a kit....when installing the new stuff use green lock tite in the houseing bore where the bearing seats....we have had instances where the outer race of thebearing was moving in the housing, causing noise....green lock tite is made for permantely installing studs and bearings

We have had numerous snap ring failures and have found that the debri in the gearbox will get picked up and damage the output gear on the drive motor armature which is non replaceable. be sure and check the gear on the drive motor anytime you have a snap ring failure.

Crown says that there was a defect in the snap ring. The drive units we've tried to fix, with the new snap ring and bearring, still make a lot of noise. We ended up replacing the whole drive unit assembly, motor and all. I sure hope they can get this problem fixed soon, but from past experiences with the engineering dept., it takes forever to come up with a solution.

i believe the only trucks affected by this are the early built ones, up to feb. '08 models. what i did and which seems to have worked cuz there has been no problems after the repair was massage the retianing ring and groove to help seat the ring as best as possible. i'm thinking when the ring was stamped it may have been out of spec. i hope this may help! you can also try crown tech. support and see if they have any answers for you.

Has been an issue. Several failures, leading to major warranty work for the shop. I understand you have to remove the mast from the unit!!