American Ring

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Your Source for Custom Retaining Rings 

Your Source for Custom Retaining Rings

For nearly 50 years, American Ring has been producing high-quality retaining rings that consistently meet or exceed customer requirements. Whether locking massive bearings on wind turbines, securing gym equipment weights, attaching knobs to car radios, or holding vehicle half shafts together, our retaining rings are engineered to perform reliably. These are classic engineered components, produced in large volumes, standardized, and interchangeable. 
For custom solutions, we may form retaining rings from wire to reduce tooling costs.

While we offer standard sizes ranging from 1.2 mm to 1,000 mm, we understand that some applications require unique specifications. For those needs, we provide customized retaining rings tailored to your requirements. 

Delivering Customized Solutions 

Our retaining rings are often stamped, but for custom solutions, we may form rings from wire to reduce tooling costs. If the design does not involve complex geometries, customization can remain cost-effective. 

Material selection is critical and depends on the specific application. Carbon spring steel is a popular choice due to its spring properties after heat treatment. Stainless steel is ideal for marine applications where resistance to rust from salt spray is required. For smaller diameter products, copper may be used because it is easier to process and reduces operational costs. High-stress applications may call for chrome silicon alloy steel due to its strength, while high-temperature environments—such as gas turbines—might require Inconel, a nickel-chromium-based superalloy. 

In many cases, material selection serves a specific purpose dictated by the application. For instance, one customer required copper retaining rings because their equipment operated near an MRI machine, which cannot function properly around magnetic materials. 

You’re in the Driver’s Seat 

When it comes to customizing retaining rings, the customer drives the process. Clients typically provide drawings that we reverse-engineer into designs optimized for manufacturability and performance based on our capabilities. The shape of the ring—whether round, oval, rectangular, or square—is often a key consideration. Customers also specify the material grade, tolerances, installation method, and whether automated assembly is required. 

American Ring Overdelivers 

At American Ring, we take pride in meeting—and often exceeding—customer expectations in price, quality, and on-time delivery. Beyond these fundamentals, we excel in areas like quick turnaround times. While industry-standard lead times can be as long as 16 weeks, we understand that customers often need prototypes much faster. For example, when an EV manufacturer requested a 12-week turnaround—already faster than the norm—they later asked if we could deliver within three weeks. By pulling out all the stops, we met their urgent timeline. 

Our commitment to collaboration is another hallmark of our approach. Our team members are product experts who understand the technical language of your application and can answer questions promptly and accurately. 

No One Responds Like We Do 

Effective communication is crucial when working with a retaining ring supplier. At American Ring, we prioritize responsiveness. While competitors may take two days or more to reply to inquiries, we typically respond within an hour or two. Unlike companies that rely on interactive voice response (IVR) systems, we ensure that every call is answered by a knowledgeable human being who can address your needs immediately—a detail our customers greatly appreciate. 

High- and Low-Volume Production 

Whether you need a few prototype parts or hundreds of thousands of production-level retaining rings, we have the expertise and capacity to deliver. 

To learn more about our customer-focused approach to producing retaining rings, call us at (800) 635-1133 or contact us.