upper ball joint

[RossRinSD]

Hey everybody, Putting on the lift kit today... I can't get the upper ball joint to come out of the spindle. I've got the truck on jackstands, and the jack under the control arm.

I usually loosen the ball joint nut and unscrew it about a 1/4 inch or so. Then lower the jack until the upper arm hits the stop, and then unload the jack. This puts all the spring tension on the ball joint. Then you whack the spindle a couple of times with a hammer and the ball joint pops loose, held in by the loosened nut.

So what is the deal with this Silverado...? I can't get that thing loose for anything... I thought it might be different because I don't have cotterpins on the ball joints.

Any ideas or suggestions?

[RossRinSD]

I still need to put spindles on, so if you know how to get those ball joints apart, let me know.

But, after you compress the spring down, you can pull out the lower control arms. The bolts came out pretty easily. Putting it back in is a little tricky, use two floor jacks...