Frustrated with my car, :( Options

[Cutrara]

So last weekend I was at home and I noticed that my Drivers side outer CV boot was leaking grease all over my rim, so on Monday when I got back to school I ordered a new axle, it came in Tuesday and I started to replace it and then it got dark out. By then I was already frustrated because I couldnt get the balljoint to bolt up correctly. The next day I got everything in, and took it for a test drive. I was three blocks away from my house and the axle popped out; it costs $45 to tow my car back (not to mention losing $20 worth of 10-minute old syncromesh to the pavement). This morning I took everything apart and this time I was SURE (at least I thought) I had the axle seated and locked properly this time, and it popped out about 5 blocks from my house. I left it in a gas station parking lot.

It's my girlfriend's birthday tomorrow, and since we've been together (2+ yrs) I've had to miss her birthday. We have plans for the weekend that involve me driving to her school, so the news that car would not move from that sheetz parking lot caused alot of problems. My roommate is letting me borrow his car, so I'll still be there, and be back on Monday to deal with the Celica.

I'm sick of dealing with this axle and I'm just going to do what I should have done at first, and get it towed to a garage. I'm a college student and money is tight, so I wanted to save some money by doing it myself, and it ended up costing me alot more. I'm fairly mechanically inclined and I'm not normally afraid to try things myself with my car, but now, I can't help but be discouraged from doing my own work on my car.

[njccmd2002]

where did you get the axle from? start by that. If not OEM then that may be the reason. Usually that little clip, inside the axle is the one you need to check.