- Location
- Rainy side of Washington
It isn't. The only reason the c-clips stay in is because the axleshafts are prevented from sliding further into the diff by the presence of the cross shaft.
I'm not sure where you came from or why you chose this thread to say that in after he already got it, but: many people disagree and if they have to pay someone to install their R&P set, it can be around the same price or cheaper to go 8.8, and even comes with disc brakes and marginally larger axle tubes. Oh, and the pinion shaft is larger in diameter, the axleshafts are 2 splines larger and 1.32" diameter instead of 1.21", which matters more than it sounds like. In fact I ran a basic torsional stress calculation and going from 1.21" to 1.32" is approximately a 30% increase in shaft strength even with exactly the same alloy used - because all the material is added at the outside, furthest from the center of the shaft, and increases the strength more than it would further in.
It's a little narrower... big deal. Deal with it with wheels with less backspacing or run spacers.
The problem with the 8.8 is the track width. It's an inch narrower than an XJ.
Better off re-gearing the 29 spline 8.25. It's cheaper too.