Axle removal on a 8.25

Alright, I've pulled C-clip axles before on open diffs and it's pretty easy. I'm trying to pull my axles out of the 8.25 to swap out the axle seals and I'm not making much progress. It has a sure grip installed and I pulled out the bolt holding in the cross shaft which keeps the axles from moving inward. I have tapped (beat) on the cross shaft going through the carrier from both directions and it won't come out. The cross shaft appears slightly larger than the hole itself. I have loosened the main caps holding the diff in place hoping the carrier will split a little allowing the cross shaft to come out. Nothing is budging. Have I missed something here? Please tell me I don't have have to mess with the adjusters to split the case and pull the cross shaft just to pull the axles and change the seals. Any help would be greatly appreciated as I'm about to tap (beat) my head against the wall.