Tell them to diagnose it by driving the car with it disconnected. Just because it looks bent doesn't mean that it's making the noise.

 

It was making a little bit of noise when they tried to move the piece. And since I am no longer at the shop, i'm not going to have them diagnose it by removing it

Since it was obviously bent and it was the only piece with any movement at all, I am just going to replace the piece and see what happens. If that is not the cause of the noise, i'm going to suspect my ES compression rod bushings since everything else appears to be in order.

 

Well I got the part today and had it installed: Noise is gone!

The bolt on the old part was able to pivot in every direction...the new one doesn't move at all. There's the big difference. But the steering feels more firm now, and the noise is gone.

Hope this helps other AWD owners who have a suspension noise like this!

 

My aluminum one rattles off of my swaybar

 

so keithk it was the stabilizer link rod? i gotta check on mines

 

Yes that's what the problem was. But I think this only applies to AWD models as the RWD has normal swaybar end links and ours are different.