Any tips on how to get the front driver side axle into the shaft? The retaining clip wont contract into the groove and it's driving me nuts!

 

The retaining clip needs to be as center as possible and then you just have to bang it in there. To keep the retaining clip center, I just use some grease, should work after a few times.

 

Dunno about you 4thGen guys, but I just used a twisting and pushing motion to get mine in. Went in with minimal effort.

 

Ok so I used lots of grease and a big frikkin mallet. It went into the first groove and that's about as far as it's goin. ARGH.

 

Are you talking about inserting the axle back into the transmission? If so, make sure you used the correct retaining clip. The factory boot kit comes with all possible varieties of clips, for manual tranny, for auto, with LSD or without. Match the new clip with the old one.

 

Are you using the grease to keep the clip as center as possible around the shaft? Do that, and carefully put it in the transmission making sure you dont knock the clip off center and then just bang it in there. I didnt use a mallet or anything thing because the axle stretches out from the boot and kind of acts like a hammer in a way so keep hitting it in with the end of the axle and it should go in.

 

I just installed my axles. My driver side axle slid right into the transmission, but I have a terrible vibration under accelertaion in 2,3,4, and 5th gears. It seems to smoothin out while cruising.

I check both axles everything seems to be in correctly. I can't seem to figure out if its the axles or maybe my rims and tires are causing the vibration, it's really bad, shakes the entire car. I just had the tires rotated and balanced. It does appear the tires have feathered some what. My mom's '02 had this problem, but no where near the vibration.

Also Jmai make sure you don't have a LSD axle. Autozone gave me a LSD axle and I couldn't get the entire axle into the tranny as well, went back to AZ *****ed them out got a non-LSD axle and installed it no problem.

 

I will be changing my passenger side axle soon...this thread was very helpful. Thanks guys.

 

Well I had to change out my oil seal so I did that today. I have had a terrible vibration under acceleration and I suspected may have been coming from the driver side axle. How much "play" should there be between the tranny and the inner joint? Mine moves about a 1/4 of an inch if that.

BTW I bought Autozone axles could this be the problem the vibration is present under speed due to crappy axles?