I started with the driver's side. I have the brakes, hub, shock, and swaybar removed (mainly to get it out of the way, and to replace crumbling bushings and worn out bearings), and the lower ball joint is 'popped' and the nut removed. Before removing the lower ball joint nut and shock I used a floor jack to compress the spring some. I chained the spring to the frame and slowly started letting it down after removing the shock and ball joint nut.
Then I hit a problem, literally. The lower a-arm is catching on a 'lip' on the back of the brake backing plate, and won't lower down far enough to free the spring.
The spindle won't move much because the ball joint 'rod' on the lower a-arm (or whatever you call it, that the nut was screwed on to) is not totally free from the spindle, to allow me to pull it, with the backing plate, out of the way of the a-arm. I'm not sure how to free this thing up. right now it's just sitting with the jack compressing the spring, and it's a bit precarious to mess with. The steering rod (for lack of the proper term) is still attached to the spindle, but that shouldnt' make a difference. I'm afriad to try and loosen the upper balljoint, then the whole thing might fly out. The spring has most of it's tension released, but it's still compressed enough to be scary.

any ideas?

Same thing happened to me.

I put the lower balljoint nut back on finger tight, and beat the backing plate with a hammer until it looked like it would clear.

Then it came apart with no problems.

Hope that helps.

Brian,
With the jack under the control arm to support
the spring jack it back up till the backing plate
is not caught and just unbolt the backing plate.
Did you remove the rotor?

I have the 2-piece stock drum spindles. It appears to me that if I remove the bolts that are holding the plate on, it will also separate the spindle pieces, probably causing a dramatic result smile.gif

I have the drum brake and hub removed from the spindle, only the backing plate is still on there.

I need to take another look, maybe with the jack supporting the spring and a-arm, it won't 'explode' if I seperate the spindle and backing plate? That would be preferable to the BFH approach, but I havn't ruled that out smile.gif

simple solution, just use a spring compressor, then no more worries about explosions, i used one it so easy to remove whatever you want with the spring locked into the compressor. although it is slightly annoying to deal with but it relieves other worries, i think you can rent one for about 15 bucks.

You can also snug the the lower ball joint back up and drop it from the upper ball joint.

Jack the lower CA up and put the nut back on the BJ stud just enough to hold. Go ahead and loosen the nut on the upper BJ and separate it with a pickle fork from the spindle. Remove the nuts from the upper and lower BJs. Raise the upper CA so that the BJ stud is out of the spindle. Then you can tilt the top of the spindle back towards the frame so it will clear the lower CA and pull it off. Remember to disconnect the brake hose and outer tie-rod first so that you can set the spindle to the side. Now just lower the jack slowly until the spring comes loose. I always find it much easier to concentrate on the spring when the spindle isn't in the way. Disconnecting the upper CA doesn't take any tension off of the spring, so don't worry about the front end flying apart. Just be careful and take your time and it will go easily. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Cool, thanks for the posts. I hope to hit this again when I get home from work. Hopefully I'll have some more pics up on my website of the disassembled front suspension...

Sounds like the a-arm is hitting the brake backing plate.
method 1 jack lower up untill the arm clears the backing plate use pry bar to guide arm past the backing plate.
Method 2 remove upper ball joint and lift spindle off lower ball joint with the lower arm supported with a jack etc....

I've always removed the upper balljoint for this job. The entire brake assembly drops down with the lower arm and makes the job very easy. Also, if you mess up the upper balljoint, it's easier to replace than the lower. You don't have to press it on and off.

Hint: If your upper balljoint is still riveted in place, it's probably as old as your car. Replace it.

I removed the entire spindle with the spring held by the jack, and it worked like a charm.

those upper a-arms aren't going back on the car. the lowers will be though. From the looks of it, none of it has ever been removed. I'm gonna put some pics on my site tonight...it's amazing this thing was still holding together to go down the road!