I'm a little lost as to which axle clip you're referring to?

when pulling the spindle away from the truck you should be pulling the axle out of the inner cup.. but first you need to pop the snap ring on that inner boot and remove a round snap ring which can be popped out with a screw driver.. if you're not afraid to get your finger greasy and you run it around the inner cup you will feel it. Once you pop that ring clip off you can then slide the inner side of the CV out of that 'cup' when you pull the Spindle away from the truck. Once it's out of the cup you can slide the axle back toward the truck and get it out of the spindle.

Thanks
Boy some pics would really help I suppose
I was thinking that if the inner boot needed to be removed the rebuilt axle would have a removable boot clip, but they say assumption is the mother of fools.
Perhaps if I photograph the rebuilt axle so every one can see the splined axle on both ends
I assumed the splined inner axle had a circlip on the end, and that is what is holding the shaft in

The FSM (Factory Service Manual) has a pretty good line drawing of the pieces, realizing that the drawing I have is for the 10-bolt not the 8-bolt. If you will send me a PM (Private Message or Personal Message) with your email address, I will scan the images this evening and send them to you.

Alrighty then, with the help of my family we got the axle in and the steering knuckle back on all the way out the the auto-locking hubs and new brake pads

here it is all apart here is the axle, and after all the hassles getting to it, we decided to leave the inner axle shaft in and open the inner boot

turns out the locking hub was like a rubics cube, the good news is it is back together

If it's like the 10-bolt, the bracket that holds the axle to the frame also holds the inner shaft in the axle housing. So to change the inner shaft you have to remove the bracket from the axle to get the shaft out. I learned that one the hard way. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" />

Agreed, we decided to leave the inner axle in and avoid taking more stuff apart.
Just finished the front pads and steering lube job, noticed the other side boots are ready to break as well
<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
I may still need to deal with the boot clamp, it didn't tighten like it should

Ya just can't win
anyway the wheels are back on and now I will address the power steering leak, or ... just let the fluid run out and use the vehicle fro a while, maybe pressure wash the underside so I can see what' s happening. I still need to get it to the muffler shop and replace the whole system with a larger, better flow exhaust system
Brake job really turned out to be a can of worms

Story of my life! I had a bad CV axle - went to replace it with an OEM junkyard one after putting new boots on it - Of course I then find out how badly done the brake job was on this truck before I bought it and this was the outcome of my analness.. (the hubs are brand new as well)



Both Sides: New Tire Rods, sway bar links & bushings, upper & lower ball joints, wheel bearings, rotors, pads, rebuilt calipers, studs & made everything look pretty. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />


Anyway back on topic - the CV boot should have a lump part on it that you can squeeze/bend together to make it tighter.

Before you think I'm crazy though.. there are two kinds, and this is the kind I'm talking about:



on the top of that you can see the metal lump part that you squeeze to tighten up.