Well its not that hard, to be honest I did it today. Took about 5 hours or so, I did all 4, the uppers and lowers. Only special tools I used was the ball joint press. I got mine from harbor freight, it does not have the exact sizes need but if you purchase the master kit from them also it has everything you need to finish the kit.

Here is a quick run through of the order I did.

- Remove tires
- Remover brake calipers, bracket, and rotors
- Remover wheelbearings/axleshaft ( Its easier to remove the whole assy rather than disconnecting the shaft from the bearing. A quick way to to do this is to remove the 3 bolts, thread the one on the back aft side a few turns in and then place a bolt or something between bolt and the axle housing, turn on the engine and turn the wheel till the wheel bearing pops.)
- Remove drag link tierod end
- Remove the spindle nuts and beat the spindle down. Use heat if needed with some PB Blaster.
- Remove ball joint (I used alot of heat and PB Blaster and pressed them out)

Reinstall in opposite order, fairly easy just time consuming. OPPS just realized your 2wd, still shouldnt bee to bad just dont have to worry about axleshafts.

 

One thing you will need is a an alignment when you are done btw.

As for grinding the rivets off I tried that but found the air hammer to work better. However, either would work if you had to make it work.

 

I just replaced the track bar on my truck yesterday, and autozone rented me a pickle fork for $10.

 

Wow! Thanks for the picture. That explains it!

 

Im experiencing creaking and squeaking when I turn the wheel and when the truck bounces over any little bump in the road. Is this a ball joint problem as well? Its a 2003 Ram 1500 quad cab 4wd 4.7 V8

 

After replacing ball joints? That's a new one on me.

 

they say anytime you do front end suspension work done that you should always recheck alignment. But I think I heard that from a mechanic, so take that for what its worth.

 

its a possibility there is a few things in the front that can make noise jack up the truck or sit next to it while someone turns the wheel shouldnt be hard to figure out the culprit

 

Its a walk in the park, DIY AUTOZONE UUUGHH I hate that name and their stores...
They do have a loan a tool program where you can rent a ball joint press to remove the joints WITHOUT removing the a-arms, does not take special tools aside from that. I have done it in less than 30 minutes. best part is no alignment necessary unless your alignment is already out of wack... hope this helps

 

You dont need to remove the A-arms. It doesnt matter what press you use (except for a shop press).