Recently, I replaced my passenger side half shaft and for
***** n giggles, decided to rebuild the old half shaft. Tore
off the old outer boot and inspected the bearing *****. They
look OK. Am having great difficulty attempting to install
a new set ring and a new outer joint stop ring. Have a pair
of Craftsman snap ring pliers. They open and hold the rings
just fine but during the process of sliding them down the
shaft to their respective positions, the force necessary causes
permanent deformation of the rings.

The tool is Craftsman 47386 and its labeled as "lock ring pliers".

Would lubing the shaft be of any benefit? Any suggestions
re this approach or alternative approaches would be appreciated.

This link displays a reasonable facsimile of what the rings look like:
https://www.rotorclip.com/cat_pdfs/crh.pdf

 

Sounds like more ***** than giggles. Just buy a reman'ed axle and enjoy life.
Maybe some type of u-shaped block of wood or something to push the clip down the shaft as squarely as possible.

 

Installed a new shaft. The re-build is a side project. Re-build
wheel cylinders too!

 

I also ran into the same dilemma during those college days. To rebuilt my axle or to buy a new one. Having been able to source a remanufactured one on ebay for $65, it was worth every penny. Working on it yourself takes ALOT of time and that usually costs money. Rather spend a day working the 9-5 rather than spend the day cursing at an axle. Just my .02

 

Very true I've come to this conclusion and several other friends of mine have as well after time lost and frustration.. but this is just a side project for the OP which I can respect but unfortunately cannot help him with

 

Yeah I can relate to doing it for "fun" but I would choose a different project.

 

Its the only project available to me at this time.

Why was the term "*****" censored? The ball bearing of the
outer joint contains bearing *****! Not to be confused w/
bearing *********.