redcoupe,
glad to hear you are doing fine on this...
try and keep track of direction of cv relative to axle for proper start putting the new one on.
you should be able to clamp with rag and tap on the new cv.. you might use a e.g. large socket with 1/2 ext. between the hammer and cv. this allows you a place to hammer and not damage the cv parts... a bit of grease on the splines should help.

before putting anything on like the cv. STOP and look at what needs to go on first... e.g. the inner cap.. and/or boot(s) and/or Oetiker clamps. Don't feel bad if you forget something I think everyone out here has had a similar thing happen... but try to avoid it.

No, you didn't offend me at all! I'm just a little slow sometimes.:D

good.... keep us posted. I'm on business travel during this week so email response may be a bit slow.

Update - and I need more advice
 

Ok, proceeded to remove CV boot on outter cv joint and I noticed the skirt that the boot and clamping ring attaches too looked out of round, like the axle had hit at some extreme angle at one time and bent the piece out of round. Since this boot wasn't bad and hadn't been leaking (i'm replacing it our of precaution), I shoved a bunch of grease in there and put the new boot on and attached the clamp. I hope this will be ok. I also noticed that if I rotate the CV joint in my hand I feel this "not so smooth" feeling. The CV joint at the other end of the axle is really smooth - but not this end. Does that mean its bad? I know that wheel end is not repairable, but if I have to I will.

Now to the question. On the small clamping rings I couldn't compress the rings enough to get the clamp so tight that I couldn't rotate it around the shaft. In other words, i can spin the clamp around the shaft if I turn it hard enough. It isn't super loose but It does turn. And if I push is hard enough I can get the clamp to and boot to go over the lip - though this does take some pressure to do. Is this normal?

Also, is there a special tool for tightening these clampls. I used a wire cutter that looks like a sheet metal break tool to squeeze the clamps shut.

others please chime in ...

the out of round ring on the axle side is not a good sign in my opinion... this means the cv went to an angle bigger than what was planned by the designers... if that angle was in the damage range... that would be my concern.... this combined with not so smooth feeling likely means there is something not right. I'd like others to give opinions on this. You could button it all up and give a try for awhile...I don't think it should fail in a way to make a big mess.. but I don't want to be on the hook for that.

re. dog ear clamps not being tight enough to avoid slipping... don't worry mine are like that also.. the special clamp tool with the stopper feature in the center is the one to use but your wire cutter is probably ok.

I came to the same conclusion last night so I just ponied up and bought a new axle - better safe than sorry right!

I know this is an old post but it helped me when I had to change axle boots.

One thing to add to this if someone else uses this. Make sure to get the ball bearing cage in the right index to the outer race. There are short and long side nubs and they need to be staggered not lined up. If you line them up the CV will not extend or flex as it should. Also they can be difficult to remove.

Also the bends they discussed are not unusual. They can happen when the car is on the lift and the axles drop. There is enough travel to just ding it a little.

When I was putting my rear axle nut back on, I used a 3 foot cheater bar, then stood on a scale and did the math to get close to 330 pound feet.

Then I went to a local truck repair shop with my socket and a $20 and asked the first mechanic if he would torque the nut to 330. It took him seconds, and he made $20 cash. I knew I had it to the proper torque.