CVJ Steve's advice to ignore the noise and drive the car turned out to be good. We had no further problems and surprisingly, the noise stopped after about 100 miles and did not return. I called Steve from Wendover to get another axle on order; he was surprised when I told him that the noise had vanished. I may not install the axle here in Utah if the noise does not return. Steve, however, may want the old one back to see what the problem is.
It does appear that CVJ is having a run of bad luck. Then again, maybe I'm acting like a lightning rod.
As an aside, I decided to top out the car on a flat stretch of I-80 just west of Wendover. The NHP was busy with a tractor-trailer incident (the tractor caught fire and burned to the ground
must have been fiberglass) so I was free to stick my foot in the firewall. The old '85 got up to 105 MPH indicated and seemed to have a little left when I quit. Wife said, after that run, 75 felt "slow."
Thanks for all of the support.
Jeremy
__________________
"Buster" in the '95
Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles
Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles
My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970