Half shaft trouble
 

So, I may or may not have goofed pretty good here...

I'm doing a substantial amount of work, but this issue involves the front half shafts.

When trying to remove the right side, I think I might've pulled the shaft out of the front differential.

There are the 6 bolts that mate the drive flange to the half shaft. I removed these, but the half shaft was still stuck onto the drive flange. In my efforts to free it, the drive flange (and the shaft that it attaches to, that goes through the tube and into the front diff) is now at least an inch further out than before, and I cannot push it back in.

Any advice? Do I have to remove the tube to the diff, and figure out how to seat the shaft back into it? Anybody have this happen before?

Thx in advance, I'm in the middle of doing a number of things, and have faced and overcome MANY setbacks, but this just has me pretty dejected... Any help appreciated.:)

not sure on the setup with the first gens but on mine i didnt have to take out any bolts on the diff. My shafts just slide into the diff. But when i removed my half shaft i had the inner shaft come with it too. Thats happens once in a while, nothing bad. I left mine connected to the half shaft. It sounds like its just stuck at the snap ring which can sometimes be a pain to get in. You will have to apply a good amount of force to get it past the snap ring on the end of the shaft. Then it will snap into place

Thx for the reply.:)

I'll take some pics tomorrow, because I think it might be a different setup... The bolts weren't in the diff, they connected the half shaft to the output shaft. The output shaft now sticks out of it's tube by about 1-1.5". And I can't get it back in...

Looking at an exploded diagram, I wonder if I pulled the output shaft out, and dislodged the snap ring? In the attachment, item 1 is the thing protruding out.

I don't actually have the output shaft that goes into the diff, they only gave me the half with the 2 CV joints. You undo the 6 bolts, pull it off, and bolt up the new one. Hope this is a better explanation than my previous post... Thx again!

NVANZEE, thanks man! You were right, just need a good bit of force.

Hope I didn't screw anything up! lol

Thx again...:)

my 4wd stopped worling couldnt figure it out till we got it on the lift then saw that the passenger front output shaft is sticking out about an inch and a half , so reasonably all i have to do is break down everything and shove it back in? what would cause it to just pop out?