I recently wrote about putting a new motor mount into my inline four
powered manual tranny van and lhearing noisy wheels going round while it was
on the jackstands.  I figured it must be the right hand CVs after removing
the tires and wheels and comparing the sound as the van idled in gear with
the wheel (s) turning.  Everyone says rear wheel bearings are pretty
bomb-proof on the vans, and since I was hearing the noise on one side only,
but with no weight on the wheel...I sort of figured it must be one or both
CV joints.  Plus I had them apart about 50k miles ago and they looked a bit
worn out then, too, but I greased them up and re-assembled them without any
further action, due to expense and time.  I did replace one of the left side
at that time and the other left one looked OK...

  I got two Lobros from our west coast vendor and stuck them in....Very
quiet back there now.  All that rumbling is gone when rolling along on
smooth roads.  No 'buzzy dry bearing feel' under hard load.  The worst one
from the tranny end of the axle you could fish the cage back and forth, in
and out, with ease.  I have not cleaned one up to look at it yet, but I
will...they are such cool devices...

Don Hanson