Hope someone can help, I am tearing my hair out.
Recently installed new Drive axles on My 1999 Rodo 4x4. Everything went well (with a few curses due to confined spaces with not so confined parts).
I am now at the hub end and everything looks good, but for what ever reason the splined end of the drive axle doesn't stick out enough to attach the C clip once the hub is placed on it.
All the parts for inboard end to outboard end appeared to be correct in sized an install. Measurements of new and old drive axles are same.... What would be the issue?
:banghead:
I have photos of where I am at this point. Can email if necessary.

Hmm.. you cant get any more axial movement out of the half shaft or is it the hub that is hanging on something?! Weird one. Do the new half-shafts match with the old ones? (same length) 1998-2001 should be the same, 2002-2004 are different. up to 1997 are totally different again with changes in between!:banghead:

Joel

I had some trouble with mine when I did alot of front end work. The groove for the snap rings came up just short.

Check to make sure no needle bearings came out of the inner bearings on the spindle and are hanging things up. If that is good you might have to do like I did, used a slide hammer to to pull the axle shaft through a bit more to get the snap ring on.

Thanks for the input Gizmo42. All parts match up. Tried a make-shift slide hammer too. Needle bearing was okay.
rodeo02 - I have the nesessary movement of the drive axle, it is just not coming out enough. All parts match up the same from bearings to seals to shafts. This is why I am so flustered. this is the last place I thought I would have problem.
I suspect that either it has something to do with the grease seal at the back of the spindle, or the grease seal at the back of the rotor that are not seating properly. Also one option was the removal of the washer at the back for the spindle. My hesitation there is that, it must be there for a reason, so not looking at that option. Will call a dealer tomorrow and talk with one of the mechanics. I have racked my brain all last night and today. I even tore it down again today and pulled the drive axle out of the hub again to see if something was missing.
I even had a friend, who is a Podiatrist (sp) no less, come over with a fresh set of eyes. Tried a couple of things...still nothing.:crying:

Did you try putting a jack under the lower control arm and lifting it till its about level? I forgot about doing that.

I have the jack stand on the lower comntrol arm as we speak.
I spoke to a number of mechanics at dealerships this am and may have identified the problem. Seem the hub bearing seal has a tendency to pop the spring out of it. It then sits on the back of the bearing. The rubber in the seal then splays out. It just happens to play out right where you want the bearing to meat the spindle, thereby not allowing me to get the rotor it all the way in and not enough to get the clip on. I have ordered two more seals and will try this one. Wish me luck

I am having the same problem,after replacing rotors and bearings.Can't get enough axle shaft through the hub.Please let me know what you find.I have been working on this for three days.

I had the same problem when I replaced my front rotors and a CV boot a couple months ago. One thing you can try as a quick check is to see if the bracket that your brake caliper attaches fits into place properly around your rotor. If it's in the right place, you can probably assume your grease seal and inner bearing are in the right place because if they weren't, your rotor would not be centered between that bracket. When I put mine all back together the half shaft was just a fraction of a millimeter short of sticking out far enough to get the c-clip to catch. I actually took a grinding disc on a drill to grind down the outer face of the outer hub flange so that the c-clip would catch. I would stress that I would not have done this if I had to grind it even half the thickness of the c-clip. As it is I'm pretty convinced that somehow, someway, my hub is just going to come off and I'll own the only three-wheeled Isuzu in Pittsburgh. I had my Zu up on jackstands for a week trying everything I could think of before it came to this. Of course, it only took me 2 hours to do the other side once I figured it all out. Incidentally I didn't have to grind the other flange down to get it to fit.

I have a mechanic I know coming up to the house this afternoon to have a look. He ordered up and other drive axle to compare it, thinking it may have something to do with that too. All I need it half the width of the clip. I even ordered the shims thinking I may the the shaft coming out too far...silly me.:screwy:
Last night the thought of doing the grind was formost in my mind...after all what could be the harm?:uhoh:
This is the last ditch effort before the grinder comes out. I will keep the thread posted on the results.:banghead:

Well the good word is in. :grinyes: Mechanic and I looked at the hub for about 1/2 an hour and did some measuring. Turns out the grove for the c clip was approximately 1/16 “ further up the shaft than the original ones I took out.
The one the mechanic had ordered up ahead of time was fine, just the ones I spent a day installing were not.
There was basically two solutions.
First and most time consuming. Order up another set, or if you haven’t started order up the right set of drive axles and install them.
If you are like me and frustrated because you spent the last week wondering where you screwed up, here is what I did. I took the splined hub cover to the local machine shop and had them remove about the width of the c clip of the face of it. Then when putting it on there was enough room for the clip. I know JCB18 suggested the grinder, and thanks for that. The mechanic suggested getting it machined for a good flat surface for the c clip.
So there you have it. I am once again a happy camper. I don’t suggest that this is the answer, only that I was not prepared to wait three days for another set of axles and another day of crawling around under the front end of the Odeo.
I hope this helps those in the same boat I was in and for those who are about to jump in… Good Luck
:cheers:
Rob