Axle shaft replacement conundrum

[Bottomfeeder]

Hi All - Last week I noticed a bit of odd front end vibration on my 2002 X5 3.0 with 39K miles on it. Upon inspection the left side CV joint boot was torn, grease all over the back of the wheel, so I decided to replace the entire axle shaft.

I just did this job a year ago on my other X5, a 2005 3.0, and all went smoothly. This time around has been a little different. Everything has taken longer and nothing has come off easily. On the 05 I was able to get the axle shaft out of the hub with just a drift and hand sledge, this time it was an absolute bear. I needed a 7 ton puller.

While using the puller, it looks like I crunched the wheel hub dust cover and pulled it away from where it should be. It's now loose on the hub, with about 1/4 " of exposed area that shouldn't be there.

Here's my question/concern - is there any chance that while trying to push the axle shaft out of the hub that I somehow pulled the hub away a bit? Seems unlikely, but it definitely took a lot more force than I thought to push it out. Photos of what I'm looking at are below.

Sincerely hoping that all I'll need to do is get that dust cover repositioned ... I really don't want to pull that hub if it's avoidable. Thanks in advance for any advice or words of wisdom from others who have been there.

Chris
Lockhart TX