take a dead blow hammer and smack the helix to loosen the ring

 

as ftwflh said hit the helix with dead blow hammer, spray some penetrating oil on snap ring, its stuck in the groove because of spring tension, you evidently dont have it apart yet, when you get it apart you will see the wide groove in the splines and hopefully things will make sense if not we will try to explain better

 

got it. from all the reading ive done tells me to line up the groove on the splines,rotate 1/3 turn and push down.

 

right, your just tensioning the spring, turning helix to the next ramp, clock wise, you will have to hold onto clutch sheave and pull counter clockwise, then push helix down and install snap ring, thats where the helper will come in handy cause you have to hold everything down till you get the snap ring

 

the spring has been rewound and they didnt do anything different. spring set to 2-2(was set to 1-1 stock)
im thinking that maybe its just me. the shop had me mark the primary pulley with a sharpie to see how far the belt is going up the pulley. after a full run theres roughly 1/8th of an inch left on the most outer edge. it def revs fast and builds speed fast. slight pop in the exhaust on decel.

could i have lost a little topend set to 2-2 vs the 1-1 it was at?
what should my top speed be(roughly?) thanks for all the help with this. now im weighing the options of installing the hpd jet kit i have.

i did more reading and heres a good example of what im feeling. its feels like its not reving high enough to give it that final surge of power. when the shop pulled it out it was set to 1-1. should i try a different setting

 

You will get more top speed with 1-1 but wont be as quick or back shift as fast.
I would give up a little top speed for fast back shift for trail riding.

 

could i split the diff w/a 2-1 setting?

 

NO!!!!!!!!!! go to 1-1

 

just wanted to thank everyone for the help. i ended up leaving it at 2-2. it came down to me riding it on the street vs woods. on the street it just didnt feel fast in the top end. it wasnt until i had my wife pace me in the f250 did i find that i was hitting 45-50 quickly. i took it up to the rubicon for some fun and jesus does it rip now. vids coming soon.