So in january this year I hit a plastic bag on the 405 that ripped one of my drivers side CV boots. I went ahead and replaced the CV halfshaft with one of the lifetime guarantee Duralasts from autozone. No off-roading, just driving on highways around LA and took a trip to Big Bear and Kings Canyon last week and february, respectively. About 2 days ago, I noticed a knocking noise on the drivers side and looked down to see what is depicted in the pics attached:

I'm wondering if this could happen if the snap ring wasn't properly installed, or some other kind of issue with the aisin manual hubs? It was fairly challenging to get that cv axle in there, had to use a floor jack to manipulate the wheel area to get it to fit, but in the end everything appeared to be ok. Just wondering if you've ever seen this before and if I should be troubleshooting the hubs or just getting a replacement from autozone, or something else entirely... Thanks

 

ouch, I think you might be right about the snap ring. just did my rotors and it's a PITA to tell if it's in the groove with all the grease around it.

 

That's what I'm thinking - I will take the front off the affected hub later this evening and see what's going on. Update on the issue: I toggled the hub from free to locked and was able to push the boot back so that it is flush with the wheel - switched it back to free and now I can't pull the boot back out. Still going to work on the snap ring, not sure what else it could be at the moment. Assuming that's it, I'll cram that boot with grease and hope for the best. Weird how it took a couple months to manifest itself if it is in fact the snap ring...