Quote:
Originally Posted by Stretch
I think you've probably found the culprit - the axle is probably knocking. It is difficult to say how stiff an axle shaft should feel; the best thing to do is to remove the axle from the vehicle and check the torsional wear at several points along its "in and out" position. There are a few videos of this procedure on youtube such as this one =>
How to Test a Mercedes Rear Axle for Excessive Wear - Kent Bergsma - YouTube |
Stretch, thanks for the tentative confirmation, and the link to the video, which originally led me to suspect that the axle was bad. However, I was trying to avoid having to remove it until I had a replacement, and I didn't want to get a replacement until I could confirm it was the axle.
Ergo, even though the video said it had to be removed to test it, I was wondering if I could tell it was bad without removing it. And you just did that to some extent.
Accordingly, I guess I need to look around for a good used axle or a rebuilt one, since the new ones I see advertised seem to be Chinese junk.