Ball Joint replacement question

[rbalach]

I read quite a few posts and "how to" on replacing ball joints, but nothing was mentioned about the spring ie:
Once the car is jacked up and the wheel has been removed, is there any energy in the springs ie: is it still compressed ? If so was some sort of spring clamp used before the ball joint was removed ?

Just don't want to get hurt by removing the ball joint and the spring unleashing its wrath on me

Thanks

[Earthworm]

There is pressure on the spring but that's contained by the strut. You won't have to worry about the spring when changing the ball joint.

[Bxsvx]

there is compressed pressure in the control arm of the ball joint, make sure to be careful when removing the ball joint, the control arm has a upward tension, if you push down on it you will feel it. As Earthworm said the spring is contained in the strut assembly, so dont worry. So the key step is to keep the control arm in a safe controlled position, you can easily crush your fingers or hurt yourself real bad. hope this helped, gluck!

[svxfiles]

Make sure the pathway for the bolt that clamps the ball joint into place is lined up.
Meaning; the groove in the ball joint lines up perfectly with the hole the bolt goes through.
I concider these two bolts the most critical on the car, so torque them and I use Red Locktight on them.
Not a bad or hard job.

[billb]

No worry on the spring unleashing it's wrath. Can't happen when you're replacing the ball joints.