Outer CV joint (halfshaft) snap ring question
 

So I searched and looked in my shop manual and could not come to a clear conclusion. Pardon me in advance if I missed the answer.

The outer CV joint on the NA Miatas... Is there supposed to be a large snap ring that holds the inner portion of the CV inside of the outer portion of the CV? The shop manual shows this snap ring on the inner CV joint (next to the diff) but not on the outer. To clarify, I do not mean the small snap rings that hold the ball cage onto the shaft, or the snap ring that retains the halfshaft in the differential. This is a large snap ring, about 2.5" to 3" in diameter.

I am doing some CV boot maintenance right now and noticed that the OUTER CV joint can be separated by pulling the driveshaft in towards the differential. That is, it can be separated to the point where the balls no longer engage the races on the inside of the outer portion of the CV. That does not seem right to me, although I suppose that normally the limited movement of the CV (due to the inner CV placement) would keep this from happening on its own. Plus the CV boot itself could prevent this from happening since it will only stretch so far.

The shop manual does not explicitly show this snap ring on the outer CV joint, just the inner CV joint.

Anyone know? Thanks in advance.

No one? Really? Been asking around with the local Miata circle and still do not have a definite answer. Most (without hybrid half-shafts) just get rebuilt units and swap them.