So I can not for the life of me get my cv axle back into the rear housing on a 85 gl 4wd. PLEASE someone help. All the hammering in the world hasn't helped me a bit

Have you tried disconnecting the rear shock at the trailing arm? You need to get the tire off the ground, but doing so will allow the stub shaft in the trailing arm to swing down far enough to easily get it in. I ALWAYS coat the splines on both ends with anti-seize or at least axle grease to keep them from rusting together. Keep and re-use the stock pins too, they're much better quality than any aftermarket ones

 

Josh

There is a cir clip inside the cup if you are trying to assemble the bearing part.

 

What are you hammering on? Did the axle pull apart?

Rear housing? I had to drop my rear differential down, in order to get the space to slip the CV joints over the stub. And there is two ways to put the CV axle on. The right way and the wrong way. The lead pin hole on the differential stub, tapers so that the lead pin can only go in, in one direction. And the CV joint has a smaller and a larger hole. So you can only fit the pin through the larger hole of the CV joint, into the larger diameter hole in the differential stub. Since there is an odd number of grooves in the stub, if you don't have the right alignment, the holes then do not align. Maybe that is your assembly problem.