Hello Ranger-Forum, I am new here.
Skip past the lined section to get to question unless interested in the truck
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My friend from highschools first vehicle was a 1997 Mazda B4000. He owned it for so long, and I helped him learn how to do work to it since he got it. He bought a new toyota and his girlfriend drove it. Eventually the wheel bearings came loose a bit and everything had declined to a point where he just decided to grab a toyota from a family friend for her and so he offered it to me first, knowing that it would go to the right home.
Well he was right, it sure did :)



The beginning. Steering loose to the point of corrections down a straight road being full arm lock to lock. (180 degree rotation minimum) Wheels were wobbling badly when on jack. Suspension worn and clunking, brakes worked well with no noise.


Removal of entire Dana35 TTB


With no exageration. Everything, was replaced. The only original components are the beams themselves, the axle shafts (new u joints), the knuckle, dust shield, rotor and bearings (recently done), the spindle,, caliper, spring and hub, roll bar links( new bushings ), and roll bar itself. The spindle has new bearing and seal, cvs have new seals, every bushing, washer, plastic clip, EVERYTHING replaced.



Tie rod ends are NOT greasable ( messed up on order ) everything else is. Rancho sterring damper. This is just the beginning of the work. Motor has rear main seal leak, broken manifold bolt. And transmission is just due for a service. Rear is getting rancho 9000 adjustable shocks, and 5 leafs. Possibly some small engine tuning because that is pretty simple on this ECM. Will be converting to a camper truck, full custom. And then haul trailers behind it. (yes, possibly a diesel swap in future)


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Actual Question:
Is this normal?
During reassembly, the driver side cv required some decent amount of prying force to have the CV engage far enough into the spindle to put the snap ring on the retain the automatic 4x4 hub components. Was not to difficult to do on my own but it was a struggle.
Then on the passenger side, it required an additional person and a 6 foot 1" thick square solid steel pry bar with decent force, a pry bar on the other side to assist (2 foot long) and hammering on that while using an additional crow bar to hold the steering from turning. We got it engaged enough to BARELY get the snap ring on, by tapping with a brass drift very lightly. after releasing the pressure of the bars, it didn't put much pressure on the snap ring and is kind of acting normal now. There was a VERY thin strange shim plate in the washers for 4x4, that the other side doesnt have and is not in the diagrams for this exact axle. We removed it and that is what made it much easier.
During reassembly I did disassemble the entire system, and remove the spindle seal and try and press the bearing further. It did not move I believe, and is seated fully.
Here is a photo of the spindle bearing pressed in with seal:

Before packing, driver side, passenger looked same. I know the plastic guide part is broken a bit, I am terrible I know. I was learning :( Can change that in 30 min down the road if it has any issue. As I understand it is just a guide for the CV seal.
The cv seals that came off were clearly worn much shorter than the ones i put on, however were identical in every other way and even casting marks in the plastic parts were identical. (not sure about any numbers as it was a different brand) The dirty old grease was cleaned out as well.


CV seal, much taller than old


I checked during prying and the seal had no effect. I am no sure where this engagement was restricting other than the CV into the needle bearing itself. The CV's were VERY floppy in the spindles during disassembly. Nearing point of scraping the inner walls of the spindle itself. After replacing the needle bearing and even before prying them in, the cv was nice and tight again.
I drove the truck under 40kmh for testing. 4x4 with hard steering and engaging and disengaging to test lockers. All works perfectly fine. Very quiet, the only thing i hear is the clunk in transfer case and then i hit throttle and I can immediately notice the 4x4.

So the question if you forgot from the top ;P, is this normal that you have to pry the cvs into the spindles to get that snap ring on? I need this thing to be able to be serviceable anywhere, anytime. So having pry bars like that in the truck isn't really reasonable.
Thanks

 

Well... I guess no one has any clue.