so i took that shaft down and a replacement inner. What i was told is that the 2wd front shafts are much stronger than the AWD shafts and that its a regular upgrade in high HP wrx's etc. The shafts brett supplied the car with were these 2wd ones.
here's a photo below of the difference, the 2wd one is on the left, and the stock wrx on the right. Also the one on the left has a boot from a hilux, capable of handling larger CV angles, and hold a heap more grease.
so all in all there is a hell of a difference and im hoping that with the different boot and 2wd shaft i should get a decent life out of it.

also out of interest, who knows how the outer joint comes apart? or does it only seperate when its buggered?