x2 or 3 on those ball joints. i had the same noise, replaced ball joints only, and creaking/groaning went away.

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1985 300D - 1984 Euro 280E AMG Clone (SOLD) - 1978 280CE (SOLD) - 1983 300D (SOLD) - 1981 300D (SOLD)

Do so at your own risk.

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83 SD

84 CD

I don't have any noise when driving down the road. It only seems to happen when turning into parking spots.
I do recall someone I knew who had a lower ball joint go out on him. It happened without warning. He was turning into a parking lot when it happened. His car was a 68 220D though.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

I got a creaking that is audible when turning at low speeds or standing still, I thought it was a ball joint. turned out to be the idler arm. will it make the noise if it isnt moving ? that would make it much easier to find.

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1996 E300 110,000
1985 300TD 212,000
1980 300D 238,000

Well four months later I finally got around to repairing the creaking noise in the suspension. It was the idler arm bushings. All the internal metal parts were rusted. I had to knock them out as they weren't coming out easily. Cheap and fairly easy to fix. I was just surprised to see that it had rusted inside. The car did sit for about 8 years before I got it.

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DJ


84 300D Turbodiesel 190K with 4 speed manual sold in 03/2012

Mine started creaking at about 435k miles due to a torn ball joint boot. Of course by that time everything needed to be replaced anyway, so I had it all done at once.