Retaining Rings

Retaining Rings hold components/assemblies onto a shaft or in a housing/bore when installed in a groove. They can be used in the place of screws, nuts and threads, cotter pins and washers and other traditional fasteners as they do the same job for a lot less. A simple groove is all that's needed to accommodate a retaining ring. Other fastener methods, like nuts, require machining threads, which is a lot more costly. They also require at least two components to function (Ex. Cotter pin and washer, nut and washer), which adds to the costs. Retaining rings are strong enough to be used on everything from ABS brakes to mechanisms to adjust the tank tread on an M1 tank.