If the ball joints are stuck to the spindle like mine were, they can be kinda difficult to break loose. If they won't come apart with a few hammer whacks, you may have to break out the big guns;
There are two "backup plans" that I have used in the past when performing this operation.
Method one;
There is a tool called a ball joint separator that is commonly known as a pickle fork (it looks like a big two pronged fork). You slide the fork in between the spindle and the A arm where it the ball joint goes thru so that the forks tines straddle the ball joint shaft. You then procede to beat the heck out of the handle end with a big hammer. As the fork tines are forced into the area between the lug on the spindle (where the ball joint goes through) and the A arm, it forces them apart. You can buy one for a few bucks, but the last time I had to change ball joints I got one from auto zone under their loan a tool program (total cost $0.00
)
Method two;
Get a deepwell socket that you don't mind ruining and a bolt that is 3-ish inches long. The socket has to be small enough that the when you put a nut on the bolt, it won't go down inside the socket. Put the nut on the bolt, then put the threaded end into the socket. Adjust the starting length of your home made "speader" by running the nut up or down on the bolt until you can slip the whole thing vertically in between the upper and lower ball joint ends (where the nuts and cotter pins go) with the end of the socket pushing against one joint and the head of the bolt pushing against the other. Then simply take a big wrench and unscrew the nut. As the nut unscrews, it will push against the socket, which in turn pushes against the end of the stuborn ball joint, and eventually forces it out.
Like Kid said, It's a good idea to leave the ball joint nuts loosely threaded on the ball joints so that the whole thing doesn't come flying apart when it finally decides to let go.
It's really not a hard job as long as you use some common sense so have fun and good luck!
TS