Hi Folks,

I need help, advice, tips and warnings on re-installing my driver's side (right side) rear axle. I already re-installed my passenger side (left side) rear axle, which slid right in like butter with no problems. But the right side won't go in no matter how many curses I throw at it. Here's a brief synopsis of what I've done so far:

In my never ending saga of repairing a rear axle oil seal leak on both sides, the culprit appears to be bad wheel bearings on my 99 Tacoma with about 126K miles. I removed both rear axles and took them to a shop to remove old wheel bearings and bearing retainer, and put in new wheel bearings, retainer and snap ring. A day later, I picked up my rear axles with their shiny new wheel bearings and retainer, ready to be re-installed.

Like I mentioned above, the passenger side slid in no problems. But the driver's side just won't go in. It gets to about 1/4" away from the backing plate bolt holes, and after that no amount of brute force by me and my cousin seems to work. We checked the splines and filed down some of the grooves by the end of the axle in the hopes that would help. But it didn't work.

Anything I'm doing wrong, or any tips or advice. Do I just need to get brutally Herculean with the thing and add more muscle (although my cousin and I already tried reaching the limits of our limited strength)? I'm at a loss as to why it won't go in like the passenger side. Any help, advice, tips or warnings is greatly appreciated.

Thanks and take care,