Hi all,

I am having one heck of a time trying to reinstall the driver side axle back into the trans. It looks like there is a little 'set ring' or 'retainer clip'? at the tip of the axle shaft that goes into the trans...this is somehow blocking and without it, it goes right in.

I looked at this closely and the ring seems to be loosely sitting on the shaft..

I replaced this axle some 4 yrs ago and didn't pay attention to how it looked like before....

My question is, what exactly is the purpose of having this ring or clip? Just to hold the shaft in place in the trans? Can one do without it?

I tried to get a new one from the dealer and it's a special order part. I can find one in a cv boot kit elsewhere...

Thanks.