axle/intermediate shaft

[2003_ep3]

well ive been tinkering around and trying to figure out where the hell my strange popping noise is coming from. ive officially ruled out anything suspension wise. ball joints, tie rods, end links all check out and are good to go. unfortunately:( while i was under the car scratching my head trying to figure out what it could possible be i grabbed the axel and shook it side to side. no play, thats good. then...i shook it up and down. oh boy. its loose as hell!! my passenger side has a LOT of play in it. ugh. the driver side is pretty tight. what the heck is wrong? is the axle bad or what? my bro says its either the intermediate shaft(or something else under there, forgot the name) or the axle is bad? please help!! i need to get this fixed quick before the problem progresses. and i dont want to spend any money until i figure this out 100%

so what do you guys think it is???

thanks for all the help in advance

[2003_ep3]

anybody???