Once the jack is set, (and tension applied to lower control arm) loosen the upper and lower ball joint nuts.

On the lower joint (before loosening) rotate the spindle to the left as viewed from the driver's seat. This places the spindle against the limiting stop and aides in breaking the nut free. (and saves your knuckles too). For the upper nut, rotate the spindle in the opposite direction (for the same reasons).

 

Now you're ready to break the ball joints loose from the spindle. Again if you are going to replace the joints the use of a "pickle fork" is acceptable. If your joints are good and you aren't going to replace them then there is a simple, cheep and effective tool that anyone can make to get the job done.

It's nothing more than a bolt, a nut, a few washers, and a socket.

Here it is:

 

To use the ball joint tool you thread the nut on to the bolt (all the way up), add the washers, and the slide it into the socket. Then you place the socket over the lower ball joint and then thread the nut downward( toward the washers and the socket) until the top of the bolt contacts the upper joint threads.

Then with a couple of wrenches continue to thread the (nut) downward until the joints come free from the spindle.

Like this:

 

Once the ball joints are broken free you can slowly lower the jack and relieve the tension on the spring until the spindle comes free from the ball joints. At that point the spindle can be removed.

At this point you may or may not have to raise the jack slightly to aide in CAREFULLY removing the shock absorber.

After the shock is removed SLOWLY lower the jack until you can remove the spring. (at some point the jack may no longer contact the lower control arm and the spring might still be under tension (although GREATLY reduced). Standing off to the side of the spring (actually the front of the vehicle) use a long bar and lever the spring out.

 

With a "pickle fork" the steps are the same,.......but chances are very high that the grease seals (dust boots) will be ripped during the removal process. (if you're replacing the joints then that will not be a concern)

Photos of the process with a "pickle fork")

 

An example of what can occur when using a "pickle fork"

 

Because the lower ball joint boot (grease seal) was torn during the separation process, that it is the original (has 195,000 + miles on it), and was going to be replaced anyway (just because) the next step it to remove the lower control arm.

At this point all that is needed is to remove the 2 pivot point mount bolts from the frame and to remove the control arm from the frame.

 

Now that the disassembly is complete, (typically the cross shaft bushings in the upper control arm don't wear that excessively so the upper arm won't be removed in this case) it's on to prepping the upper control arm for reassembly.

This will include ball joint removal and clearancing for the new drop spindles.

First the clearancing:

The location and amount to be removed is shown it the instructions provided by Belltech in the spindle kit. (you can also download the instructions from their web site)

 

The following shows the clearancing completed along with the ball joint removed ( I forgot to take photos of the ball joint removal,....sorry)

The ball joint removal process is pretty straight forward though. It's simply a matter of removing the factory installed rivets. All that's needed is to drill, cut, or grind the tops of the rivets off (flush with the the top of the joint) enough to drive the rivet out of the joint (from the top) and through the control arm. Then the joint can be lifted up and out of control arm.

Then the next step is to replace the ball joint on the control arm, and install the new bolts (from the bottom up, and the nuts with lock washers on top) to secure the joint to the control arm.

 

Now the reassembly can begin:

Here are the parts used for the front end. (all Bell Tech other than the ball joints)

2" drop spindles. PN 2102

2-3" lowering springs. PN 23228

1" spring distance kit PN 34852 (comes with the spring kit) can be purchased seperately

street performance shock absorbers PN 10101I