The last 2 wheel bearings I worked on had that very problem, one of them chewed up up the gear teeth and took a lot of work to repair. I tool the dremel and made sure the groove was clean and then once the snap ring was in, rotated it several times and even tried to pry it off with a small screwdriver. One of the VXes I HAD done the bearings on, the other one (same day) I had not touched. It IS important that the thin washer be on the shaft before putting the snap ring on.