I run 5.29's and 37's in my LS Swapped 80. I did blow up the front 8" recently, but was completely my fault.
I think 5.29's will work great for you since you're doing a 9.5 front... I feel like most people that say 5.29's are weak have never ran them and a regurgitating what a friend told...
Nitro are china made now. I just replaced my front 5.29 with Revolution gears. ordered from Cruiser Outfitters.
Also be ready to buy a new pinion flange as they upgraded from 27 spline to 29.
I don't thing the ring gear would brake when in park and winching.
Broken teeth don't usually make a clunking sound ether.
At least not in my experiences.....
No. the CDL is still needed for 4WD.
The "locker/viscus coupler" in the tcase are like the spider gears in an open diff (the awd feature).
the spool cuts the power to the front drive shaft.
you need the CDL still to activate the 4WD.
with the CDL off you can have 2H or 2L, CDL on 4H or 4L.
Can't go wrong with the hellfire. I run them on my 80 (truck originally built by Hellfire Fabrication and it has one of the first 5 sets of hellfire knuckles)...
I'm not following your question..... You still use the CDL once the tcase is spooled if that's what you're asking.
Late response, but the keyed arms from Front Range are awesome! Ran them on my old mini truck crawler. You could run them with 1 bolt and they will stay put.