Axle Shaft replacement...problem with diff pinion shaft

[cajunajun]

Hey guys, hoping someone could shed some light on this situation for me...
I'm replacing my left rear axle shaft because it was very slightly bent in a run in with a curb a few days ago, but other than that everything is fine. The damage to the axle shaft is minor but I wanted to go ahead and replace it now rather than wait for it to potentially get worse.
Everything was going smoothly but as soon as we were able to get to the gears after the diff fluid was all drained I ran into a speedbump.
Took the differential pinion shaft lock bolt out so that we could take the pinion shaft itself out but the thing won't budge. It's supposed to just fall right out. A buddy and I took turns banging on it a little but still no luck. In my past experiences, the pinion shaft just falls right out after the bolt comes out, but this one is in there pretty tight.
Now, the previous owner put 4.10's in there but nothing looks damaged or destroyed for that matter so I'm pretty sure it's not broken. Can anyone shed some light on this? Is there anything I failed to do? Is there anything I need to do that are specific to the 4.10 gears?
I'll probably take some pics later if that will help...

[Blkstg2x]

Not too sure about your specific situation, but when my rear end went out (on the highway @ 75 mph) the rear gears were so mangled in the diff, the shop had to use a torch to cut away all the bearings ..etc. That is when I chose to upgrade to 3.73s..lucky for me I already had the parts. Good luck man!

[F4iMerlin]

EDIT: Head removed from A$$. Disregard my previous post....


Try a bigger hammer...

[cajunajun]

Actually just figured it out! I hate it when it's something simple, and even worse something I thought about but disregarded. The guy that put the 4.10's in over torqued the bolt lock to at least 60nm vs 20nm so when I unscrewed it half of the screw snapped off. The bolt is supposed to be at least an inch long and it's only half an inch. So in the event this happens to anyone else all you need is to find a tool truck and buy this thing that's a long flexible drill bitt with an "easy out" tip. Drill it in, drill it out. Takes 10 minutes and only cost me $27 bucks. The company that makes it I think is DOW Industries.