AZW,
I have successfully removed both driveaxles and installed remanufactured driveaxles in their place.
Yes, I saw and removed this split ring, as well as the bearing mount bolt, which keeps the bearing race (?) from rotating. The split ring is apparently still necessary on the 97 to hold the driveaxle firmly into the differential housing. The part of the shaft on that passenger driveaxle that fits into the differential housing does NOT have a clip ring, as does the driver's side. The driver's side driveaxle of course does not have a bearing mount with split ring to hold it firmly into the differential housing.
My split ring on the passenger side was not stuck, as yours is. However, it was not easy positioning pliers on the ring ends to get the ring out. One side of your ring may be stuck for several reasons, e.g., (1) it is rusted in place, (2) the bearing is pressing against only that side and not the other. Some possibilities are: the bearing was not installed all the way in the mount; the bearing has shifted during use; you may have previously pounded on the driveaxle.
It seems most likely that the ring is just rusted in place. In that case, applying a super penetrating oil, such as Blaster (my local Pepboys store had it) and tapping lightly will work, although it may take time and several applications.
While waiting for the penetrating oil to work, you may want to carefully horizontally (approximately) insert a blunt tool, e.g., a metal punch, against the stuck side of the ring, and pound on it towards the differential housing. I would avoid letting the tool directly hit the inner part of the bearing, as this may make the bearing harder to remove by expanding it against the bearing mount.
A tip for re-installing the split ring is to pre-position the ring on the driveaxle before inserting the driveaxle back through the bearing mount. Then use some thin wire to wrap around the ends of the split ring to draw them together. After the driveaxle is back through the bearing mount far enough to allow the split ring to be held in place, cut the wire and the ring will spring into place.
I tried a WD-40 generic many times on both sides of the bearing after I removed the split ring, but it didn't work. That's when I got the Blaster super penetrating oil from Pepboys, but it still took many applications and a lot of pounding with several different tools. For example, I used the points of a ball joint separator wedged between the bearing mount and the big weight that is located on the driveaxle between the bearing mount and the passenger wheel. I also used combinations of other tools to create a similar wedge effect between the bearing mount and that weight. However, after the bearing gets dislodged and moves about a 1/16", the wedges were holding the bearing from moving any further out of the mount. Consequently, I then kept applying more penetrating oil and using the ball joint separator points to pound almost horizontally against the big driveaxle weight towards the passenger wheel. Though I was working with the car up on jack stands and not a lift, I was still able to use a rock hammer to get good solid hits on the ball joint separator. I wished I had done that earlier.
Another tip on the passenger side is to thoroughly clean the inside of the bearing mount with penetrating oil and emery paper to remove all traces of rust, before installing a replacement axle. I also applied a very light coating of high temperature grease on the inside of the bearing mount and the outside of the bearing on the driveaxle. Even so, I had to use a thick piece of plywood and a hammer to carefully pound on the hub end of the driveaxle to force the driveaxle bearing into the bearing mount, keeping the driveaxle as straight as possible. Then I put a little of that grease around both sides of the bearing while it was in the bearing mount to act as a seal and help keep contaminants out in the future.
On the driver's side, I first found that I had to rotate the driveaxle as I was inserting it carefully into the differential housing, through the rubber seal. When the driveaxle then moved noticeably inward, it was of course stopped by the clip ring on the end of the axle. Shoving the axle with my hands didn't provide enough force to get the clip ring in far enough to pop into the groove inside the differential housing. Consequently, I placed a block of thick plywood (which resists splitting better) over the hub end of the driveaxle, aligned the axle as straight as possible, then carefully struck the hub end of the driveaxle through the plywood with a hammer, just enough to pop the clip ring into its grove in the differential housing. This worked right away.
However, after starting the other end of the driver's side driveaxle into the hub, I found that I could not force the hub assembly ball-joint studs back onto the control arm, even with a pry bar pressing down on the control arm. Eventually, when I tried rotating the driveaxle several times, I found that the driveaxle compressed its length, and I was then able to easily get the ball-joint studs on the hub assembly into the holes on the control arm.
As a precaution, I also put a very light coating of high temperature grease on the hub side shaft of both driveaxles before inserting them into the hub. I also put a very light coating of grease into the hub hole. I would be very careful doing this, because you do NOT want any grease to move from that area onto your disc rotors and then onto your pads. Once the pads get contaminated, braking power may be severely diminished.
NOTE: I had no problems getting the driveaxles out of the hubs, when I started removal. The hub ends were only very slightly rusted and almost fell out themselves.
I have been driving the car for the last several days and have had no problems.