circlips... ??

[Suzuki]

Lots of chatter about aftermarket vs. OEM circlips.

What say you? received my Meteor piston in the mail today from HL supply

New clips on the right, old clips on the left.

Am I better off reusing the OEM clips, or stuffing in the aftermarket clips?

 

[1Alpha1]

Personal choice. Either should work fine.

 

[pioneerguy600]

What RPM`s does the saw run at,WOT.? The OEM circlips are made of a better quality metal, harder and more spring steel, than most of the AM clips I have tested. If installed without distorting the AM clips should stay in place but many cases of the ears breaking off and in some cases the clips themselves have bounced out, especially in high revving saws.

 

[cus_deluxe]

Ive heard of guys nipping the ends off those meteor clips, less weight, less chance of something breaking off as mentioned above. Meteor used to come with a different style more similar to husky oem clips. Not sure why they changed

 

[67L36Driver]

Shorten the ‘ear’ or remove it entirely.

Depending if has a removal notch.

 

[rayjay257]

When I raced Hodakas it was std procedure to nip off the excess length of the 'ear'. We were also taught at various motorcycle manufactures' mechanics schools to never reuse the circlips. The gap should be straight up or down. Due to the shape of the piston I always put the gap to the top. I don't use tools to install them, I use the tips of my thumbs.

 

[Suzuki]

The saw revs as high as a Husqvarna 55 air injection revs... Not sure what that is...

I ended up reusing the OEM clips. I didn't orientate them in any particular direction. If the case is compelling enough, it isn't much to tear the saw down again and change them.

Somewhere it has an air leak. I suspect between the carb and the bulkhead.One of the carb bolts has been stripped and isn't gripping properly.

Warm compression is now at 145psi. I'm hoping that will improve a little once I stuff the bar into a log or two after repairing the air leak. The saw had been straight gassed. Cleaned up the jug with new piston and ring.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Not terrible high revving but I always orientate the openings facing up or down just due to the forces acting upon them, that is the sudden changes in direction the piston makes at top and bottom of the strokes, this is where the little bent tangs break off the circlips, also where the clips are likely thrown out. The clips actually spring open /close a bit at each piston change of direction, think of this happening twice each revolution.

 

[BrettS]

and in some cases the clips themselves have bounced out, especially in high revving saws.

I had that with my MS260, had rebuilt the top end using AM clips and they made a mess of the cyl/piston when they came out at revs.
I fitted a new AM cyl/piston with AM clips (sucker for punishment) but took off the tang and orientated the openings down, haven't had a problem since.

 

[cus_deluxe]

I just assembled a aftermarket 346 kit on a 350 for a friend. Used everything in the kit, with a used oem wrist pin bearing. Tried to reuse oemcirclips, but the diameter of the wire was smaler than the am ones, so they were a little loose in their grooves. Am ones were nice and springy and a good tight fit. I was surprised, im pretty confident theyll hold up.