Are you sure about that? Maybe it was a typo. The 27 spline 8.25 is only marginally stronger than a Dana 35. The 31 spline 8.8 is waaay stronger than a Dana 35 and the shafts are stronger than a Dana 44. Even the 28 spline 8.8 is much stronger than a Dana 35.
As to C-clips, it's a common thing to say it's poor, but that's not due to weakness in the C-clip itself, but rather it's a weakness of the design. When you bust an axle shaft, the clip part gets retained inside the diff just fine, but the rest of the axle shaft is allowed to wander right out of your axle tube and it takes the tire with it. :eek: With a non-C-clip design, the tire and outer part of the axle shaft are retained even if the axle shaft snaps. But if you get a 31 spline Explorer 8.8, the C-clip design is essentially a moot point seeing as it's very VERY hard to snap one of those shafts. :D