Control Arm Help

[raul7211]

Morning guys - what started with an 'easy' spindle/spring replacement, turned in to a whole lot of work.  Long story short, changing both the upper/lower control arms also.  Removed the top easy enough, seems like a simple swap for that.  The lower is where I'm stuck - do I need to remove the 'U' Bolts and just 'drop' out the control arm that way?  Not really sure how to get the lower one out.  Also, when I purchased the lower arms, the info on the summit website mentioned something about having to change my 'sway end link'...wth is that? lol Any help is greatly appreciated!

[VileZambonie]

Does your truck have a sway bar? Not all trucks came with one although if not, adding one is a great idea.

Raise front of vehicle and place jack stands under frame, allowing control arms to hang free.
Disconnect shock absorber and stabilizer bar from lower control arm.
Install a suitable jack, place jack under cross shaft so cross shaft seats in grooves of jack.
Place a safety chain or strap through coil spring and lower control arm, then raise jack, relieving tension from coil spring.
Remove cross shaft to crossmember U-bolts, lower jack slowly and remove spring.
Remove lower ball joint nut and separate from steering knuckle.
Reverse procedure to install.

[raul7211]

Replacing control arms and am stuck on taking the U-Bolts off for the bottom arm.  Seems easy enough to just remove the nut, but I cannot get to it, no matter what tool I use.  Impact drill doesn't reach it, no room.  Barely any room for a ratchet, no leverage to pull. 
Cutting them is not an option.  Such a simple thing, but just so hard to reach, looking for tips please.

Thanks!!

[JohnnyPopper]

I feel your pain, I took mine off when the motor was out and they are still buried.

You can disconnect the motor mounts and raise the engine (AFTER) you take off the distributor cap.

Or even remove the distributor.

Prob have to disconnect the exhaust pipes from manifolds.

Watch out for the Pinch Zone i.e. use a solid jack stand and not just the floor jack.