I had a bad CV half shaft on my 88 1 ton so I pulled it without much problem. Then the "axle stub", I dunno GM term for it, the shaft that runs into the differential, comes out a few inches. I am trying to get it to go back in but it feels like it is spring loaded and I can't feel any splines even coming close to lining up. I am a Dana solid axle guy, this is my first IFS 4x4. Can someone tell me what I have done and what I am going to have to do to remedy it? I really appreciate the help, I am stuck at home until I can figure out what to do. Thanks again, Craig

you probably got the c-clip out of place. gonna have to open up the cover and line everything back up by hand. axle should not have come out that far with out removing the clips.

the axle housing is pretty much the same as for a solid axle set up. the difference with a independent is the cv joins on the ends. they eliminate the knuckles for steering. think of it as a offset diff rear axle, and the mounting face for the cv's are the stud hub.

Thank you. That is what I was wondering was if there were C clips holding the shaft in there. I only have a Haynes manual right now and it is pretty hard to decipher how these are held in place. While searching for answers I ran acrosss a thread that said the axle shafts were held in by "a light press fit" and the half shaft, thats where my confusion started. Since this truck is "new to me" I guess it will be a good chance to do a little maintenance. Will I need to drop the whole axle or might I be able to work on it if I take the skid plate off?

The "stub" axles as said are held in with a small clip just like any other c/v shaft. You may need to rotate the other axle back and forth to line up the splines on the spider gear.

The damn engineers stuck that thing up in there pretty high. with the skid plate off you have just enought room to change fluid and see about half the cover bolts. gonna have to take it down some to get at the top bolts and to see clearly inside the case.

Driver's side just gets "driven home". The Pass side, once slid out, will require disassembly to reinstall the displaced flat/ thrust washer. http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/showthread.php?t=200988&highlight=thrust

Many thanks fella's. I ended up pulling the axle and replacing all three seals and a half shaft. it's no wonder GM is going out of business, a monkey could have engineered an easier way to put that c clip back on..lol In all seriousness it wasn't that bad. Again thanks so much for the wrench tips