The piece you took the chunk from is a cap that I think has two functions. It keeps the grease circulating in the joint and minimizes it's migration out to the boot (not a big deal). I think the second function is the important one. That cap with the restriction of the size of the opening restricts the CVjoint-axle angle enough to keep the ball bearings from falling out if you move it outside its operating limit, angle-wise, during shipping or handling. I found this out two different ways. The first one, I removed the cap by trimming it on a lathe to service the CV joints but once the cap is off there is easily enough movement to dismantle the joint. You can't do it otherwise. The second, I purchased a cheapo replacement shaft for about $70 my cost just to see how good or bad it was but when I got it, the CV joint was cocked to the side and stuck. Couldn't break it free and the cap was bent. I really couldn't figure out how it got like that other than being dropped off a loading dock that was maybe 3 stories high. Any way, that crimp that holds the cap on is pressed into a shallow groove on the outer part of the CV housing. The nice thing I found after cutting the thing off was there's a second shallow groove that allows the cap to be re-used a second time. I made a tool for that. You can see the edge of the second groove in your pic.
Anyway, the bottom line is if the cap is still tight, and assuming everything else is OK, then it's most likely usable.
Last edited by tjm3; 03-27-2019 at 11:48 PM.
See ya later,
tony
'98 M3, '92 Dinan3, '05 R1100S BCR, '07 R1200S, Aprilia T
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Originally Posted by RobertE36
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