91 Axle Install Nightmares

Alrighty, so inevitably this project which should have taken me maybe 1-2 hours on a slow day has turned into a nightmarish multi day project as they tend to do. I've done my passenger side axle before so I knew what to expect, but everything went awry. Pretty much all of the bolts were seized, but they were no match for my big*** cheater bar and a lot of PB blaster. Finally got access to the axle and the cv joint WOULD NOT come out of the half shaft (driver's side axle btw). Prying, banging, even rented a slide hammer and it didn't work. Had to take out the half shaft (of course those bolts were seized too and no room under there for a cheater bar, not fun) with the CV housing still attached and bang the crap out of it and it finally relented it's rusty mess. But it was ok, victory was mine. I finally put it all back together, after struggling mightily with getting the rotor assemble back into the ball joint. Everything is put back together, seated correctly etc. So why the hell won't the outboard splines come through the rotor assembly?

questions:

The outboard splines will not come through the rotor assembly. Not even enough set the axle nut and use it to coax them the rest of the way through.

I drove it around the block slowly to see if that would help things set, but the splines still won't come through. it's almost as thought the axle is too short, but I got it from autozone, and it looks right when compared to the axle I removed, and as far as I know the axles are all the same length for the g2 tegs.

Not surprisingly with no axle nut there is considerable knocking and vibration when turning left and straightening out. I assume this is because no axle nut, but could it be something else like I got a bad axle? I really hope not. I can't face spending any more time in that wheel well.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

My 2 cents. Take it apart and do it again. I had issues with mine when I did my clutch. And that's how I fixed it. It could just be something simple.

Never drive around without an axle nut. The axle nut keeps the entire hub/bearing in one piece. My advice, take it to a shop.

Compare the axle to a known good one. See if it is the same length.
Is the outboard seated correctly in the knuckle? (look at it from the back and check).

Having the same problem getting the inner housing free of the half-shaft on my '94 Integra. Must be the original axle to be so tightly jammed/rusted. Service manual says to tap the inner joint housing with a plastic hammer--what a joke.

You should sand down the splines to clean up any burrs, then grease it and try again. Clean the hub splines out too.

francisco,
I'm having exact same stuck problem on my 94 integra. What was your solution to separating CV drive axle from the half shaft. Don't seem to have good way to apply leverage with car just on jacks.