On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 08:37:24 -0500, "Sean" <sguncav@hotmail.com> wrote:

>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?

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.

>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?

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:
0v1k51d5hlqkkj8i0b9rvalpmqfd0b2tb9@4ax.com

--
Rgds, George Macdonald