Hydraulic Cylinder End Caps

Older 235/320/360 hydraulic cylinders simply used a washer to hold against the snap ring. Several of these older cylinders has disassembled themselves over time. The washer starts to bow and forms a bit of a ramp that encourages the snap ring to retract and disengage.
Later hydraulic cylinders replaced the washer with a machined part that captured the snap ring such that it cannot disengage. In order to remove the snap ring the new end cap is pushed into the cylinder beyond the snap ring groove. Once the snap ring is in place, the end plug and cap are pulled back out against the snap ring.

Here is the older style washer that has a history of bending and does not trap the snap ring.

Here is an older style cylinder with just the washer. The snap ring has partially worked its way out of the groove. This can be seen by the wear marks along the lower edge of the snap ring. This can also be seen by how much of the snap ring is visible at the 1 o'clock vs 7 o'clock positions.

Here is the newer style end cap installed. Note that the snap ring is captured.

End caps are available for $15 each which includes the inverted style snap ring.

Last edited by Chris Zavatson on Sun Dec 22, 2024 8:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

note:
The photos are from an iPhone. Clocking reference will make sense once the orientation corrects itself.