Started to hear a rubbing or grinding noise on the passenger side rear and thought it could be the pads. Took the wheel off and found this. On the top of that link, should it be bent like that? Questions are what is asked on the pics and On one close up I show teeth showing on the axle coming to the wheel assembly. Should that be going into the hub and not exposed? Why would I be able to see it?
Also the rotor has rust on it and I am thinking that should not be the case just driving the car yesterday. All the other rotors are clean.
Sorry if some dumb questions here and thanks for any help.

 

The first pic is the sway bar end link. It looks normal, they have the ball joint on there to allow flex, and with the vehicle lifted that shouldn't be a concern.

The rotor shouldn't look like that normally, but drive the car and if the surface rust goes away then the noise probably will too. My rotors look like that after I wash the car and let it sit for a couple of days. If the problem persists, or while you have the wheel off now, I would look at the pad guide pins and make sure they are clean/free of rust and built up brake dust so the pads can slide easily. Also make sure the caliper and e-brake are releasing all the way by putting the car in neutral with the e-brake off and making sure the wheels spin without a lot of drag.

The bushing on the 3rd pic is actually a dust cover for the tie rod end. It shouldn't be torn up, but if there isn't any play in the end, then I wouldn't be concerned at this point.

The last pic shows the ABS tone ring. It should be visible like that. You can also see the ABS/wheel speed sensor right above it.

 

Thank you very much for the help and response. So you are thinking all looks ok and see what happens? it does seem a little loud with that rubbing sound I mean it was so quiet and now you can definitely hear something. I was thinking maybe take the calipers off to see if they were sticking and grease those pins. But then I thought if it was stuck against the rotor, I would not see that rust because the pad would be cleaning it off.

 

I edited my post, but I had STR on the brain and forgot that the V6s have a different style caliper and e-brake. I would definitely lube the slide pins on the caliper; if they come out difficult and are rusty or lacking lube, then you may have found your culprit.

 

If anything, I suggest the pins are leaving the caliper open, so the pad(s) is/are not contacting the disk (rotor). Maybe try some braking and have another look.

I'd measure the disk thickness, to make sure it's not getting too thin.

If the braking doesn't clean (i.e. wear) the rust off and in case cleaning and greasing the caliper up also doesn't shift the rust, the piston could be sticking. Check the seals anyway whilst you have the caliper off.

If it were me, when doing this work I'd bleed some brake fluid through, in case some air's got in there / to get rid of the local fluid.

In case you've not worked on brakes & calipers before (or someone reading this thread later hasn't), google and places like howstuffworks will find detailed help.

 

+1 on lubing those caliper guide pins and ensure the brake pads are wearing evenly on both sides - if one or both sliding pins are not adequately lubricated could cause uneven pad wear or worse yet preventing the caliper from fully pressing the pads onto the rotor causing the build up of rust.. just my $0.02