I fully realize that leathermang and myself are making sounds that are projecting into space with no one hearing them.

As he said, it takes very little to hold the pins in place. There is NO force that is acting on that link in a direction that will force it out. ALL of the tension is perpindicular to the pins that are peened in place.

By the same token, it does not AT ALL surprise me that using the clip has been successful for the independent tech mentioned above. I personally will not use a clip, but if I did, I would be very careful to see that it was fully in place, just as I am VERY careful to see that the pins are peened properly.

One more thing about the clip. Many years ago, MB used clips, but they used two individual circlips, one on each pin. They did not use the long split clip that goes over both pins as you see on an industrial or motorcycle chain. Even with the long clip, if it is put on with the solid end in the direction of rotation, and seated fully in place, it would probably last until something else blew up the engine.

That brings up another thought. How many chain failures have been because the link came out? Most chain failures are instigated by something besides the chain itself, such as broken rails and such.

I also fully expect that there have been a number of failed chains due to someone changing them because they had many miles on them, only to have a failure because of human error during the replacement procedure. If they had left the old chain in place, they would've had no problems.

Unless a chain is stretched(worn) there is no need to replace a perfectly good chain. Inspecting the rails, tensioner and associated components, and replacing as necessary, on the other hand, is certainly a worthwhile endeavor. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

My $0.02,