I am replacing the rear axle on a 2001 Chevy Blazer. The problem I am running into is when I put the axle in the spot where I took the old one off, it is too far to the rear. I see the back of the leaf springs are bolted to a bracket which bolts to the frame. Is it possible that when the differential locked up the brackets moved?

 

I doubt that they'd move. It bolts into a pocket on the frame I'm the front also, so your leafs can't really move back at all unless you sheared your centerpins.

Did you take the leafsprings off? I believe they are shorter on one side than the other. They could be backwards

 

The bracket you are talking about, do you mean the shackle? If so, they do move. When I changed my leaf springs the bottom bolt on the shackle had to be moved as far back as possible to get the leaf spring centering pin to align with the mount plate on the axle housing. I used a floor jack to move the spring up and get the shackle to move/angle more to the rear, then a little force on the axle housing, pushing it forward, and it dropped in place. I hope this helps.

 

Is it the correct axle? Are the wheels to far back or is it that the driveshaft wont reach. The axle carrier could be shorter