Lower control arm removal; '98 Dodge Ram SS/T

[hemi68charger]

Hey gang...
Hope everyone's doing ok and all had a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays..

Situation: I'm about to replace the upper/lower control arm bushing and ball joints on my '98 Ram SS/T..

Question: Since there's a coil spring, can I:

1. put the truck on jack-stands with the weight of the truck on them
2. raise the lower control arm with a floor-jack and with the arm up, compressing the spring, separate the lower ball joint, and then lower the control arm slowly thus allowing the lower control arm to swing down far enough to release it from the coil spring.

OR: Do I HAVE to use a coil spring compresser?

I'm sure the upper control arm's removal is similar to my old b-bodies in that I just need to separate the upper ball joint from the spindle and then remove it from the frame eccentric locations. I'll be marking the position of the eccentric cams so I can repposition them in the same location..

I'm trying to do this all myself other than the press work required for the bushing and ball joint installation itself.

Thanks.

--------------------
Troy

[hemi68charger]

Well,, turned out to MUCH EASIER than I thought it was going to be.. Luckily I have a lot of experience with our older B's, so this wasn't so daunting. Took me about 1.5 hrs to get one side off. The other side should be far quicker with the driver's side under my belt....

The fruits of my effort.. Tomorrow to the machine shop to press out/in the new bushings and ball joints.. The tierod ends all seemed to be in good shape since those had zerts to grease...

[mikepmcs]

Nice job troy.  more pics would be cool as you progress.  it would be kind of like a how to....

[hemi68charger]

Nice job troy.  more pics would be cool as you progress.  it would be kind of like a how to....

I'll do that tomorrow.. Since I'm an early riser and like to tinker on my stuff in the morning, I left the passenger side till the 'morrow.... I'll take more pics.........