Lol In short my axle wouldn't seat right because The circlip was blocking The axle from fully seating. The circlip grabs the axle and holds in place. Unfortunately mines had shifted slightly and was blocking the axle from going in. It took me 3 axles and 8 days to figure this out and that's thanks to SonicVQ because I would have never figured it out. So this morning I used a magnet and turned the other well to reposition the circlip and it popped right in

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So, in other words, the old CV joint fits fine but the 2 new axles/CV joints won't? All because of the circlip being "off center?" That is a absolute first for me in 40 years dealing with CV joints... I mean, the circlips are self-centering- that is what the taper at the end of the stub is for. Must be a Nissan thing...?

From there you can just repack the joint, install and seal the boot, and hopefully call it "won" and done!

 

Mannnn I've replaced tons of axles and this is the first time I've ever dealt with this lol.
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How difficult was it to get in?

 

After repositioning the clip it popped right in

 

I'm glad you got it all sorted out!

 

The circlip should be centred by the taper, but once in a while it doesn't, maybe due to a rough edge or bur on the taper or a sharp edge on the end of the circlip.

 

Ahhhhh the knock still haunts me 🙄.

So I took it for a drive and still a slight knock that gets louder on rotation. New axle is still seated so I don't think it's that but I did use and oem shaft with napa axle but that shouldn't matter right?

I noticed something weird though, when I went to put my wheel down after taking it off to inspect I noticed a rattle type of noise. Upon further inspection I found that atleast 8 of my bolts are loose (I have 2 piece wheels) and I'm hoping the noise I just heard was the wheel face shifting while I was driving 🤔.

 

Yes it does matter, as they are a matched set.
The odds of the dimensions of the cup and 3 ball yoke being "close enough" are very, very low.
As a matter of fact, when you disassemble the inboard CV, the factory shop manual instructs you to mark the position on the inner and outer part of the CV, so "ball" #2 doesn't end up in "slot #3"

Simply check it for free play:
With the wheel held, grab the inboard CV and twist it forward and reverse. You should not be able to feel or see any movement.

Best option is to remove the axle, assemble the NAPA axle and use that.

 

Man I really appreciate you bro, you've been such a great help. I'll update this post tomorrow in the am once I reassemble everything. Thanks so much again.

 

Anytime

 

Ok so for curiosity purposes I decided to tighten my wheel faces (needed to do it anyways) and most of the noise is gone but I have a nice vibration which I'm assuming is the mismatched axle. So I'll be snatching the axle back off and using a full napa axle. I'm assuming like SonicVQ stated the axle is moving around due to different dimensions in the axle shaft stub. The axle showed no play at all but that's still not good enough knowing that axles are matched and I currently have a mismatch one.
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Grabbed a new axle under warranty and I'll toss it on in the am

 

Mission accomplished! Thanks everyone for the help and now I get to drive it lol.

 

Fantastic news. I didn't help you at all, but I was rooting for you!