I skipped GoodYear and took it to an alignment place my mechanic uses. It turned out the cracking sound was from a worn wheel stop, which was aleviated with a little grease. Alignment was quite a bit off, as suspected, so I had them fix that. I was much more impressed with these guys than I have been with the GoodYear ... they seemed to know what they were doing and CARE what they were doing, which gives me a little more peace of mind than I had with the other guys!

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1987 300D, arctic white/palomino--314,000 miles
1978 240D 4-speed, Euro Delivery, light ivory/bamboo--370,000 miles
2005 Jeep Liberty CRD Limited, light khaki/slate--140,000 miles
2018 Chevy Cruze diesel, 6-speed manual, satin steel metallic/kalahari--19,000 miles
1982 Peugeot 505 diesel, 4-speed manual, blue/blue, 130,000 miles
1995 S320, black/parchment--34,000 miles (Dad's car)