CV half axle

[hurricane_evac_vehic]

I replaced my 2000 Pontiac Montana driver-side CV axle just fine…tapped the inner CV joint housing at the groove with a large screwdriver. The new passenger-side CV axle, however, refuses to go in. The splines are aligned, but when the retaining ring hits the bevel at the female splines, the assembly stops sliding in. I know I can’t beat on the end of the axle assembly, and since there’s no groove in the passenger-side inner CV housing, I clamped a chain ViseGrip around the housing to give me something to tap on. How hard can you beat that thing to get the retainer ring to compress that last little bit?