Suspended Reanimation
The best plan of attack is to first place two jackstands under the frame behind the front end, ensuring the car is safe to work under. Next, remove the front tires and wheels, the sway bar, and the tie rod ends. Then, remove the cotter pin from the lower ball joint and loosen the ball joint nut a couple of threads so there’s about a 1/8-inch space between the ball joint nut and the spindle. Caution: Do not remove the nut. Now, hit the spindle (not the nut or ball joint) where the ball joint comes through; this should loosen it from the spindle. Use this same technique to loosen the upper ball joint as well. This technique uses spring pressure to dislodge the tapered ball joint. If this doesn’t work, you’ll need to resort to a pickle fork or an air hammer to force the ball joint apart from the spindle. For safety, place the floor jack directly underneath the lower control arm to prevent it from dropping down. This will keep the coil spring from jumping out of the spring pocket and causing an injury. The front spring has hundreds of pounds of stored energy behind it that must be treated with a healthy respect.
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