ive put a h165 diff in and was putting the axle in on the first side and attempting to push the axle in to get bearing right into housing ive been hitting it with a hammer and then using the bolts that go through the drum plate to wind it in, problem is as ive tightened these the axle was getting harder and harder to spin and now has gotten to the point that i cant turn it by hand, when i tightened the bolts i kept swithcing bolts to pull it in evenly but somethings not right

any help? im guessing the bearings not sitting straight and the gears are binding, or could it be something else, the bearings still out of the housing by just over 1 cm but i dont like my chances of being able to pull the axle out, is it normally quite difficult to put the bearing in or is it just cause ive stuffed up somehow?

it sounds like the axles are too lpng and are pushed in so far that they are hitting the spider gear shaft. either that or there is a lot of dirt or rust on the area where the bearing sets. but where you stated that it binds up, I would say check your axle length.
if the axle won't slide back out, get a length of heavy chain, attach one end of it to the axle on a lug stud with a lug nut and whip the chain to work it loose. that way you can get it out without danaging the axle or housing.

the best tool in a toolkit could be the sledgehammer, but sometimes even the biggest sledgehammer doesn't work.

Things to think about as you go about your day....

michael,is this the diff with the sprung centre in it?if it is,you may have to shorten the axles slightly,as i once had to do with a welded centre.it'll probably only need 2-3 mm.the best way to get the axle out is with a slid hammer & chain.rig the chain between 2 wheel studs,attach the slid hammer to the chain about the centre of the axle,then hammer/pull the axle out.attach the chain to the studs with some old wheel nuts,so you don't damage the good ones.a slid hammer is also call a dent puller,& can be seen in action in the original 'gone in 60 seconds',though not for it's original purpose(no,not the nicholas cage travesty foisted on us recently,the one used by all the car thieves as a training manual.right, enough frivolity).the best way to see if the axle has bottomed out is to GENTLY tap the axle in with a hammer.the sound should change pitch when the axle is fully in.if the bearing is not fully in the housing,the end of the axle is hitting the centre.just grind the splined end of the axle down the amount the bearing is sitting out from the housing,plus 2-3 mm more for heat expansion.there should be plenty of spline left on the axle.dont get a big hammer & bash the axle,as this could crack the axle,& it'll shatter the first time you give it a decent serve.(once again,talking from experience,yes,this did happen to me).

hmmmm, everything you said "dont do" ive already tried . what youre talking about could be right i think, this may be my problem, iwas going to put some old nuts on with the drum on backwards and use it as a slide hammer against the nuts, if that doesnt work ill try youre way, i think i may be grinding axles soon but im concerned as the bearings still sitting out over 10mm (about half inch), and these axles came out of that diff in the first place. ill ring the guy who put the sprung load in and see if his heard of similar problems

you said that the axles came out of the same diff., BUT did or did you not change the axle housing? if you did, measure the didtance flange to flange and make sure that they are the same.
like I said berore, it sounds like you axles are hitting the diff center shaft, the only thing that causes that is the axles being too long for the housing.

change the axle housing?
the axles im putting in came out of that exact same diff from a 1200 ute, things ive changed:
-put sprung load locker in diff centre
-put vanette drums on axles
didnt get a chance to ring the guy that did the centre and havnt touched the car, probably wont till the weekend, thanks for your help guys, ill tell you what happens on the weekend

p.s. it just occured to me that the centre wasnt out of the diff, it was out of vanette and is a 4.875:1 ratio, if this possibly makes a diffrence

just to clear it up:
-vanette centre
-1200 ute housing thingy
-1200 ute axles
-vanette drums on axles

and just cause i feel like having a whinge, the 1200 u-bolts and bump stop dont fit around the ute diff, so i had to go and get vanette ones and elongate the hole on the 1200 shocker mount thing to keep the same shocker mount pin size to use old shockers, turns out vanette u bolts are marginaly too short and the spring washers on them got emmited (is this a bad thing, i was thinking of whacking a bit of locktite on the nuts would that be good enough? for rallying?) oh and no bump stops currently used

and because when people were talking about using a ute diff in a 1200 i said something about having to weld new mounts on, it turns out you dont, but i had to because the ute diff my bro in law had for me he got off a guy who cut the mounts off for a commodore diff conversion he was doing, thats what happens when you get stuff for free i suppose

another thing when and if you get 120y leafs make sure you get the pin thats in the centre holding them together, i didnt and the 1200 ones too short, after struggling to undo the u-bolts on a 120y at pick-a-part (they were really stuck bad) i found that you cant use the leafs or pins off a 120y with the borg warner diff as that centre pins diffrent, and as that was the only 120y at the place so i ended up making my own at home but im not really happy with them as the top of the pin locates the diff housing on the leafs and im not sure how accurate that needs to be, mine isnt highly accurate at the moment is this bad? are you still reading this or did you give up a while ago? wait if you read this then its obvious isnt it? ah ill shut up now

have you tried the other axle in the other side maybe you did and i missed it

nup, worried about getting it stuck too!
guess i should it would probably give me a fair idea of whats going on if i have exactly the same problem

did you happen to check if the axle slid into the centre before you put them in the housing. Your diff bloke didn't give you the wrong centre back did he
another idea , you dhavent got the seal stuck in there somwhere have you