so ... in my haste to get my front axle back together, I slapped the stubshaft on without installing the circlip that retains the axle-shaft into the CV to see how it felt. Is this bad news to leave this way, or is the inner circlip somewhat discretionary? There's a little bit of slop, but it seems like it will be acceptable once the hub and drive flange is installed with the outer circlip is in place. these are pop-o-matic AEU-2522's on factory 110 HD hubs, and 23/24 spline ashcroft shafts.

experience and conjecture are equally appreciated ;)

Don't let THE MAN tell you how to put it back together, you do what works for you. Damn the man...
I am (conjecture inserted) thinking that it needs to be there, cut out some slop? Wheel it and let us know.

I am on the fence on this one. Some of the toy guys run them this way, some don't. Honestly I can't say that it is absolutely required and would doubt that anyone without any firsthand experience can tell you differently. I wouldn't think it would be too much of a problem.

In short, run it! If it does pose a problem let us know so we don't make the same mistake. :rolleyes:

I would pul it apart and fit one, other wise you have a shaft that can move in/out at will, if you damage a shaft you'll be pissed!
for a 40min job to fit the snap ring.

generally the Toy guys put a small spot weld on the inner axle at the diff end and then smooth it off in order to prevent the inner axle from going into the diff too far(and out of the CV too much)
There was a write up somewhere on the PBB with pics.

I can see both sides of the argument, but would tear it apart and fit it so as to remove the uncertainty.

That said, let's look at what's gonna happen. The clip maintains the engagement of both the third member side gear and the CV joint. If the halfshaft moves to the center, we may have less than full engagement in the CV at the same time, potentially binding the third member. If the halfshaft moves to the outside, it will be fully engaged and can't go any further based upon the collar on the halfshaft... consequently, it can only really go toward the inside, ie. the diff. How far can it go in this direction? Far enough to disengage from the CV??? What would suffer the most damage, the CV, the halfshaft, or the side gears/pin?

Tony's right, tear it apart and fix it right :flipoff2:

On my trucks I fit the circlip to the axle but I have friends who leave it off on purpose. Their thinking is if they break an axle close to the cv then they can't get the piece of the axle out of the cv.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback.

After reading a few toy boards I decided to run without the inner snap ring. the 23/24 spline axle-shafts I have wear a burly collar located on the CV end of the shaft. the collar keeps the axle-shaft from sliding in toward the diff, and also keeps it from sliding into the bell housing of the cv. I kind of had a "duh" moment after thinking about the purpose of the collar, and then my circlip conundrum. So based on this reasoning i left it out, and bolted everything up.

From what I read here this evening, the Toy fellas weld some kind of locater onto the CV end of the axle shaft to accomplish the same thing or, as noted above, weld the shaft directly to the star of the CV. This mimics the purpose of the collar I have on my axle shafts.

One thing to note, while we're on circlips, is that because of the oil-impregnated bronze race to locate the 2522 CV, use of the outer snapring is critical to ensure proper CV/race engagement.

with any luck I'll have the front axle buttoned up this evening!

cheers,
-isaac

EDIT: after examining the stock axle shaft, it's waisted just after the star to inhibit the shaft from migrating too far in either direction, regardless of the circlip. the toy axle shafts seem like they don't have either the collar or the waisted area to prevent axle movement.

+1 for rover :flipoff2: