1985 300sd 205k miles. New lower ball joints, tie rods, and new Michelin tires at 197k miles followed by an alignment at the dealer.

I have been getting a creaking sound from the drivers front corner of my car. It is coming from the suspension. I used some silicone lube to try to isolate where the problem is located (as per the instructions from the results of my searching this forum) and have not been able to stop the noise.

My rubber bushings dont look too hot, also there is a rust hole in the body of the car Pictures follow. (Questions are below pictures.)

Let me know if I am calling everything by the correct name.

I am planning on fixing up my suspension... I am just trying to figure out what needs done.

I would like to get all new shocks while Im replacing bushings etc. I think the shocks on there are stock (Sachs with one blue stripe? was that stock?) I want to replace everything with bilstein from what I have read.



1. What is the name of the bushing that looks torn/ripped? Upper Ball Joint? This is the upper control arm correct? and then the sway bar on the right? or the torsion bar? Then I know the shock and spring locations. Do these look bad?



2. Is this the sub-frame mount? Is the guide rod to the left? Is that rust horrible? What can I do? Would any of these create my sound? (it was raining which is why it looks wet.)



3. Is this the lower control arm/bushing? Do these go bad?



4. Another view of the first picture... Upper control arm? Upper Ball Joint? Does it look bad?



5. Is this the sway bar or torsion bar? Do those bushings go bad and make noises?

All help is welcome! Thanks in advance