Argh. I may have spoken too soon. I cleaned out Vicki's green cup and it does look like there is some wear in it. I took apart an extra complete axle that I have to compare the two. First the spare axle green cup:


As far as I know the CV joint is good. The boot is in tact and it looks original.

Now Vicki's green cup:

If you look closely at the back of the cup you can see some marks on the ridges between the ball races. I don't know if that is enough to make me yank the whole axle though. Tea. Guess the only way to tell would be to leave the green cup, install the new half shaft and see if it clacks or not.

What do y'all think?

Luckily I am off of work this week so if I have to pull the whole axle housing I have the time. I'll just need to get new ball joints and new tie rod ends because they'll all need to come out to get the whole axle assembly out, disassembled, reassembled and reinstalled.