Thanks for the insights, I agree with the idea of "if it ain't broke, dont fix it" but at 172600 miles I would imagine that they are getting pretty worn... idk how leaky that would make them though.
another question: Cody said that I might have u-joint problems because of a noise I hear when decelerating off the freeway, He said I can fairly easily take the driveshaft off and check the u-joints, but my question is do I need a special tool to put new ones in or can I just push hard or hammer them in? Thanks again!