Hi all - haven't been here in a while and I really don't have time to post regularly again but I thought it'd be worth posting this one... which I'd been trying to figure for a while. My '92 Integra (soon to be sold/traded or whatever) developed a creak in a ball joint - only when weather was really cold and only over big road irregularities like in some parking lots, so I figured it was just dry and wanted to get some fresh grease in all the joints before wear set in. I'd tried once before with a grease gun + needle adapter... by bending the needle into a near-hook shape and trying to force it in through the narrow-end collar of the boot, at the stud. I'd had success with that with a VW years ago but the Honda rubber boot is just too tight against the stud and it was obvious that if I persisted I'd tear or pierce the boot. This creak was annoying the hell out of me so I determined to give it another go - no amount of finessing would get the needle in from the stud end of the boot and I didn't want to just pierce the boot, so I tried from the other (wide) end of the boot and it worked: You need a grease gun and needle adapter which is available at most auto parts stores - I have an old Wanner (actually a knock-off copy) trigger gun which worked fine. The wide end of the Honda rubber boot has a spring retaining clip which holds the boot's collar in a groove in the metal of the ball-joint casing and that's where you want to get the needle in. First I blunted the needle point with a file quite a bit, since you don't want the thing piercing the rubber; then I cleaned around the rubber/metal with a toothbrush and sprayed some silicone - prying, with a small screwdriver inserted between the metal & rubber, against the spring clip helps get the silicone into the crack, ready for the needle. It helps to get the needle past the clip if the needle has a slight bend in it .5" or so back from the tip and then, going at a slight angle off perpendicular to the spring clip, I used a "technique" my dentist uses to get the novocaine needle in between tooth and gum... you know those ones where they go really deep (UGH)... he does this wobble (almost a vibration) with the hand holding the syringe and so, pushing firmly and "wobbling", it worked to get the needle in past the clip. Now all you have to do is pump in the grease, extract and check the clip seating. Once I'd figured it out I did the five remaining joints in 20 minutes or so.
