There's a real easy way, especially since you listed this as a two-wheel-drive. Leave the ball joints alone. Remove the shock absorber and anti-sway bar link. Place a floor jack under the inner edge of the lower control arm between the two pivot bolts. While supporting it that way, remove those two bolts. Let the jack down, then have a helper pull outward on the bottom of the tire, (you don't even have to take the wheel off). The control arm only has to drop four or five inches to remove all pressure from the spring. Lift it out, then set the new one in. Raise the control arm with the jack, but you'll need a pair of punches to hold the holes aligned while you fish the bolts back in.
If there's a rubber isolator pad on the top of the spring, tie it to the new spring with string or wire. Be sure to remove all rocks and dirt from the lower spring pocket. Match the lower end of the spring to the formed surface in the lower control arm.
It is very important to have the truck at normal ride height before you tighten those bolts. If you tighten them with the suspension hanging down, when you lower the truck from the jack, those bushings will be clamped in a permanent twist which will seriously shorten their life.
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Thursday, March 3rd, 2016 AT 6:24 PM
