Front Axle Snap ring mystery (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Threads
3
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33
Location
Oakland
Hey everyone,

Recently replaced the axle seals on the front axle. Everything went along smoothly, not the first time I've done this but to my dismay there is something that I can't figure out. The driver side axle drive flange is completely covering the snap ring groove. The snap ring came off so it's gotta go back on. It's about a 1/4" shy and I've already pulled the axle a couple times and reinserted it to have the same result. I'm looking for that "obvious thing" that I'm clearly missing here.

Things that seem right.
Movement on the passenger side wheel spins the driver side.
The axle shaft can be pushed in further and pulled out with no resistance (as seen in the photo).
I compared everything from the driver side to the passenger side and it all seems to be the same length.
I kept the bearings consistent and didn't swap them from side to side (I had them tagged).

This is the only thing that seems wrong, but it's not just off by a little. A 1/4" seems to indicate that something obvious is being missed.
I've already tried a homemade puller bar with two bolts pushing on the drive flange with a bolt attached to the axle (didn't help). It really seems like it's bottomed out which makes no sense.

I'm getting ready to take it apart again but would like some input to perhaps give me another angle to consider. Thanks

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Are you sure the hub seal was driven all the way in? That could prevent the assembly from fully seating.
 
Thanks and yes I did. When I took it apart I checked the oil seal that's on top of the inner hub bearing and it was flush with the surface.

In reality it's probably more like an 1/8" that I need to account for.
 
Tighten your hub nut to properly seat the hub on the spindle. Doing so will make room for enough length of axle stub to install the C clip. I had the same issue two weeks ago.
 
I'll bet your wheel bearings are not seated like you think they are......

Look behind your rotor. You should not see a gap. Have you installed you caliper yet? That's the real telltale symptom.
 
Yep, did you do both sides at once and mix up the parts?
I kept track of the two pretty well. Not leaving that out as a possibility. Will take a look tonight
 
I kept track of the two pretty well. Not leaving that out as a possibility. Will take a look tonight
Try installing your brake caliper as is. you will find out it is not center on the rotor, then the hub is not properly seated.
 
Early stub axle with a later drive flange.
I'd be willing to bet that the other drive flange is shorter.
Would have been a good bet... Thanks for the input. I took everyone else's advice and look at the brake caliper spacing but that all seemed to be something that I did due diligence on making sure was right. As it turns out the the drive flange sizes were different! At some point the axle or drive flange was replaced.

Thanks again! Problem solved.
 

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