Thank you for the suggestions. I wound up running back up to George at Porbug. 

He found the problem (lower ball joint with torn boot got a bit rusty), said it was still solid, lubed it (now silent), and sent me on my way at no charge. 

He had no holes in his schedule for a couple weeks, so it'll get taken care of safely at home next week. 

Karl Wolz
Sent from my electronic umbilicus

> On Aug 18, 2015, at 8:27 AM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> One of the best suspension shops is Tru-Line in Seattle, a multi-generation
> family owned shop. I've taken all my VW vans and cars there over the years
> ('65 MGB, '68 westy, '84 Westy, EVC). At least it's in south Seattle!
> http://www.trulineseattle.com/  Worth the trip back just for all the exotics
> you'll likely see parked there.
> 
> Stuart
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Karl Wolz
> Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2015 7:42 AM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Need an alignment shop south of Seattle
> 
> Posted yesterday with no response. We're ready to head back to Phoenix, but
> want a big noise checked out first. Any suggestions other than George, who
> is geographically difficult?
> 
> Karl Wolz
> Sent from my electronic umbilicus=
>