I have a 1998 Audi A4 B5, I didnt remove the heatshield. Instead I put a jack under neath the hub and jacked it up to give myself enough room to slide the inner flange side of the axle up, with the wheel hub and whole suspension jacked as high as I could get it, I had about half an inch between the tranny and the inner flange side of the axle to play with. I had trouble with the gasket not holding its place and sliding down and blocking off the bolt holes, but asides that it went well. Jacking it up also made the spline go in far easier too. I have a sport suspension, I do not know if anyone else has done it on the sport suspension, but jacking up really made the difference in my case.