[67drake]

Hi guys.
Lower ball joint snapped hitting one of Illinois finest potholes. The halfshaft pulled out of the tranny when it broke,and pretty much fell apart.So I put in new lower ball joint,tranny seal,and new axle.

Problem is-how do you compress the lock ring on the transmission output shaft to get the axle back on?? The new axle's edge is beveled,so it looks like if lined up correctly that the ring will compress when hitting the beveled edge,but no go.
Are these supposed to just slide on this way,or is there a trick to it? Not any clearance to get in there to compress the ring by hand,so it looks.
If it is supposed to just slide on,I wonder if the lock ring got distorted when the axle pulled out??
Thanks for any help!
Drake