I also had a creaking noise from RF that would come and go for a year or so before I took action. I also had a bad UCA bushing (body mount) where the rubber totally disintegrated (can be seen with wheel jacked up and hanging). I didn't know for sure where the creak was coming from so I rigged up a guitar contact mic with a magnet, ran it into the car with an extension, plugged it into a cassette recorder mic input with head phones and moving the mic around discriminating by volume to localize the source. I did the UCA first but the creak remained. Doing the LBJ got rid of the creak. Before doing those 2 items, steering was pretty bad in a turn, especially when carrying a lot of weight in the back- almost scary. It handles much better now..

ps the creak was heard onlywhen the car goes over bumps, not while turning. The old ball joint had a torn boot and was dry.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 167,870 July 2025
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked