Originally posted by westcoaststyle
I've never had an axle go bad on me and I drag race all the time. You can tap the ends without messing them up, just don't hit them with all out force.
jmo
If it's not lined up right, (and I know from experience) you can mushroom the end that goes into the diff. And if you pound on it, you can mushroom the outside end VERY easily so that you'd have to file it down to get the axle nut on it. Those things are WAY softer than they should be.