John, The creaking sound, almost like a rusted door hinge from a B-horror movie, is probably coming from your lower ball joints. The rubber boots tend to age and crack, allowing lubricant to exit and crud and H2O to enter and rust the ball joint. The fellow who did mine, the best MB mechanic in Pbgh., indicated that they need to be installed using the correct tool/procedure and that he knew of dealerships who would only install the ball joint/lower control arm combination which are pressed together at manufacture to alleviate legal problems. Good luck.
G. M. Brown Rochester, NY
