The inners and outers are the same.  The shafts are also the same.
Reversing them may increase the lifespan of the CV's by distributing the
wear evenly.  I'm not sure why your local store listed different inner and
outer joints.  They are different on the front of a Syncro but the same on a
2WD vanagon.  The store is obviously mistaken.

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot
  http://www.busdepot.com

-----Original Message-----

Today I took advantage of the very warm weather (+1C, +32F) here in Ottawa,
Canada, to remove the two CV shafts from my 86 Westfalia (non-syncro).

Both shafts appear to be identical and the inner and outer CV joints appear
to be identical as well.

Does anyone know if there is any difference between them because I am not
sure which end was the inner/outer for both shafts (I was certain they would
be different).  If they are the same, is there any harm in switching them
around ?

When purchasing new boots, the store is selling inner or outer boots but I
can't see any difference between them.