So after spending a day getting my rear axle u joints removed, I go to put the new one in closest to the transfercase and it goes in like butter but now that I've got the snap rings in place it's real stiff to move around, is this normal? I haven't installed the axle yet as I'm nervous to drive with it like that

 

i always use a punch and hammer the ears back out a bit once the clips are in.

 

What are the ears? The yoke or the cups on the u joint?

 

yoke, around the cups.