Should be able to lube joints from the axle ends of the boots. Snake a grease gun in there; squeeze in a few strokes, and massage the boot to work grease into the joint. Noise will go away.  Plan on cleaning and relubing at your leisure. 

Karl Wolz
Sent from my electronic umbilicus

> On Feb 10, 2014, at 7:20 AM, T Collins <tonycollin@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Im asking for your opinions as to identify a bad CV joint.
> 
> I had for sometime heard a little clunking back there, to the rear
> passenger side of the vanagon. That clunking would come and go never bad,
> or caused vibration or anything, It would appear and then simply vanish.
> 
> Now this clunking is more of a ruckus since last week. I got stuck on a
> slope over a sheet of ice. So I spun hard on the axles (or the one) due to
> the sheet of ice. Last Friday coming home I heard the clunk, clunk at
> highway speed with a particularly bad vibration.
> 
> Had not driven the vanagon this weekend and on the way to work the clunk,
> clunk was there as described from Friday.
> 
> I had not seen any rips on the boots.
> 
> 1) ANY chance a brake pad could cause the same?
> 2) Does it sound to you guys that the axle is on the way out?
> 3) One more think, In manual 85 GL vanagon tin tops are the axles the same
> right and left?
> 
> All this while it sucks to work on cars outside.
> 
> Thanks,
> T.