I'm not sure about this history, but I'm guessing they're original to the car. The ball joints and tie rods still have, what appears to be, the original under coating on them, so I'm assuming minimal work has been done the the suspension. The thing that worries me is that the right and left side aren't bulging evenly. It's difficult to tell from the pictures, but the bottom edge of the black cap is slightly above the vertical lip that surrounds the opening to the strut tower.

How much bulge is normal/safe? I only hear creaking over large slow bumps and never at normal speeds.

Thanks,
Matt