Suspension creek/ balljoint check

I know George MacDonald answered this question a few times already but I am
still curious about the creaking sound coming from the rear suspension. He
suggested spraying with water and greasing but added that was just a
temporary fix. That creaking is driving me nuts, what is the permanent
solution? New springs, struts?

I also heard about the balljoints seizing and snapping (saw the pictures on
TeGGer(R)'s homepage). How do I check if they are ok or not?

 

A permanent solution would involve Honda redesigning the spring and lower
perch on the shock with a plastic or rubber seat. Some mfrs, like VW e.g.,
have used a polyethylene sleeve on the last coil of the spring... which
will eventually wear or break too. The Honda springs I've seen have an
epoxy coating which wears away to bare metal in ~18 months, which is when
you start to hear the creak. Honda has used sleeves as a TSB after-fit on
some models but more to cure coil banging than the creak.

If they're >10years old, depending on your climate, the grease is
undoubtedly dried out to some extent. The creak I heard from the front
joints, or maybe upper bushings(?), is more of groan-type creak and is most
noticable with longer suspension travel over big road surface
irregularities, than the squeaky creak you get from the spring/seat over
minor bumps. I now consider greasing the ball-joints an easy job - see:

 

Funny you should mention that...
http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/civic/x01-907e.pdf

This is for the Civic, and for the front suspension, but the idea is the
same.

Not dried out grease, but water ingress. Water causes rust. Rust binds the
ball, and then the post snaps, with, ummm, entertaining results.

George, what would have been excellent would have been photographs of your
surgery. I could have put that up for everyone's edification.

 

Yep that's the McCheapson strut - Honda's first abortive attempt at it. I
believe some Accords, mid 90s, had a similar "fix" for coil banging... see
below.

Hmmm, well if there's enough grease in there it'll keep water out. Grease
does dry out and turn buttery eventually.

It's pretty simple really - with a blunted needle just go at a slight
angle, with firm pressure and "wobble" the push. The silicone is important
to get it to slide in. On looking at my wife's Accord, which doesn't need
it yet, it might be more difficult due to more metal (chunkier hub carrier)
obstructing the path to the top of the bottom joint. The only digital
camera in the house is my wife's and I wouldn't think of taking it into the
dirty environment of a car job.