Axles take forever to go bad. So if the boot wasn't torn a few weeks ago then you should be fine. On the other hand, the clunking that you've had for a while implies that there has been a problem for a while (maybe it was torn and you didn't notice?).

Garage lifts seldom go bad either. Do you know what it sounds like right before a garage lift fails and falls on the mechanic? SILENCE

Same thing with axles, it takes forever for them to fail. But when they do, you better not be doing 75 on the interstate.

Just my $0.02

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Ben
1987 190d 2.5Turbo