Well, here is the update: I made a quick check to make sure there were no stray needles stuck between the spindles and caps. There weren't. (It was very easy to check. I have a new extra u-joint, so I just pulled out a cap of the extra one and purposely knocked down a needle before returning the cap on. The gap between the bottom of the cap and end of the spindle was very obvious. The u-joint I had installed into the yoke was nothing like this.

So...I just hammered harder down on the cap with a drift. For the cap on the other end, I made sure to keep a socket between it and the anvil to prevent its spindle from cracking the cap top. Finally I was able have some more groove clearance to squeeze in a part of the snap ring. I didn't try to do any further because the u-joint was already pretty tight.

I think I can say "mission accomplished" with the installation. However, I'm considering taking both shafts to a shop for balance check to make sure.

Do you think that would be a worthy investment?

Thanks,

-DS