I thought of the alignment issue too. I had it realigned at Firestone. I bought one of those lifetime alignments years ago. I would highly recomend it if you have not already done so.
The service tech showed me the U-Joint while it was jacked up. He showed me how easliey it moved when he grabbed it. A few hours later, I went back and he showed me what it looked like after he pulled it out. The bearings were cracked and some were turned to dust.
I'm getting some other regular maintainece done, so i should have it back this afternoon. I'll let you know if that solved the problem or not.
Peace.
Tom
012009
"Through Great Sacrifice..... Great Rewards Will Be Achieved"