Morning! Having trouble seating my pinion shaft in rear diff...

[sjreno]

Had to remove driver side rear axle on my '00 Silverado 5.3L 4x4 to drill out that 8mm bolt that holds on the ebrake shoe, and upon reinstall of the axle, I couldnt get that pinion shaft on the diff to go all the way in, just half way. What in the world do I have to do to get this back in???? Ive rotated the axle, the diff, the driveshaft, etc to get the gears to line up. Scary thing is upon visual inspection there seems to be nothing in the way of getting the pinion shaft to slide all the way through and the shaft is aligned with the locking pin/screw. I should mention I forgot to mark the axle before removing it to get a reference point. Could this be my problem? Your help please! TIA.