CV Axle Dust Seal Missing. A Big Deal?

Hello, I usually do a weekly check of my truck since I drive some nasty roads chukar hunting. I noticed the cv axle dust seal is missing. How it happened I don't know. Is this an issue or will it hurt anything? Attached are pictures. The grease is from when I installed my hubs. I put some grease in there to help the cv axles slide in and the seal too.

 

The gap dont look right but the seal may be intact. It is inside the knuckle, or should be.

 

Appreciate the reply. I checked and the inner seal looks intact and good. What do you mean by the gap not looking right? My apologies I'm just a little confused. I have to drive 500 miles tommorow and I'm just worried it'll hurt something. Many thanks.....

 

Could just be me but it looks like the gap shouldn't be that wide. How does the other side look?

 

Here is a pic of mine. Looks like your’s is missing a ring on the CV. But you should be ok as long as water doe not enter the knuckle cavity.

Note, I see now that’s the dust shield you are talking about. Doh! That would keep larger debris from entering that gap and potentially damaging the seal. You’ll just have to check the seal periodically and remove any debris that lodges in there.

 

OK I was confused as well. I appreciate the response. I was just paranoid and right now I can't afford to pull it all apart and replace the seal and get another alignment. I'll pay attention to it and hopefully all will be well. Sometime in the future I'll replace it. It just might not be for a couple months. Many thanks brother

Edit-
As far as I understand the cv dust seal (the part I'm missing) isn't really the seal that keeps out water right? It's just for larger debris and to protect that inner seal on the knuckle. So long as the seal on the knuckle is good the hub bearing assembly is protected from water right? Thanks again

 

Correct, the missing piece presses onto the CV and it does not have a rubber seal. Which begs the question, where is it?! Is that a replacement CV shaft? Maybe someone forgot to install it, or transfer it from the OEM.