Okay, now I'm scared...

I got my Empeg finally stuck in my Mini (thanks to Robricc for the black sled! It is schweet!) and I slid my baby in. This is the first time it's ever been mounted in the car, and I'm worried. I think all my carrying it around has possibly warn the HD out, or worse..
When the HD icon is on, and has the bright inner-line, after a short period, the player will freeze and stutter as the HD tries to read the track. The icon will stay like that for a long time (untested how long it stays.) If I pause the player, let the HD catch up, and then resume, it's all fine until I advance to the next track or so. I know it's the player (and not, say, my amp cutting out) because the visuals freeze and stutter with the music.
Under ideal circumstances (i.e. I let the HD catch up with itself) the music plays fine, except for one thing. Barely noticable 'dropouts'. Like, milliseconds in length, at random. I still think it's the player, because there's still a tiny 'freeze' of the visualizations.
In AC mode, at work, everything is peachy. It's running right now, no issues.

Do I have a bad HD, or is it dying? Or just really bad at shock prevention? (Granted, I do have a Mini, which has a very stiff suspension, but my OTHER player runs fine in it.)

Me.