Ok I took the top plate off which I was worried might mess something up. I was able to hold the gear in place and get it to spline on. Did bit fix my 4wd problem however
Make sure you but that back in in the same spot it came out. It could be very easy to clock this section of the actuator. It can end up sending signal back to the 4wd Ecu saying the switch is closed.
Is their a write up on how it goes back in correctly. I've looked everywhere. I'm not sure if it's working because my 4wd didn't work in the first place.