I would say that the photos inthe manual are showing how to pull the axle out to put the snap ring on.And very possibly whoever did the work before saw this and thought that it stayed in the hole and left it there <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> When I got the black truck of mine that had auto hubs , I had the same problem , the snap rings were gone , and the splines were so worn out they were smooth.I just ended up using the axles out of the other truck that had the manuals on them anyway <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />