Can I determine if i have a 29 spline 8.25 without pulling an axle?

Can I determine if i have a 29 spline 8.25 without pulling an axle? there is a tag # on the diff. cover. one is the gears and the other is like a 3-4 digit #. can it be used to tell me what year it came out of or anything like that? what happened is i bought this rearend with 410's in it and i was told it was out of a 97 xj. well for some reason i had to swap out the emer. cables because they were longer than mine. i have a 98 xj.
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the 27 spline was used up to and including 1996 XJs.....if your axle was out of a 97, then its a 29 spline. Other than that, not sure about the codes....ring gears were the same size...

http://jeephorizons.com/tech/xjstockspecs.html

HTH...