Thanks for the tips, I was planning on removing the caliper to give a little more play in the brake line and even disconnecting the rotor from the cv shaft.

 

I got the front spacers on today in about 1.5 hours. Made a huge difference with craftsman 17" pry bar. Right tool for the job.

 

Nice, how do you like the look? Nothing like doing it yourself and saving $400.

 

I bought my 2" Autospring kit nearly 3 years ago and the instructions that came in my kit said to install the strut this way. I don't know if they changed the instructions in the last 3 years but this method worked perfectly for me. The struts went back in easy and no damage occurred during the install.

 

Couldn't you just hold the top part with vise grips or hold the bottom of the ball joint with a wrench since it's hex shaped. That's what I've always done.

 

Front looks good. Now to install the rear blocks after work today so I can get the tires on tomorrow.

I haven't had to pay anyone to work on any vehicle in years. Even built my 2013 mustang myself, so there was no way I was letting this get to me lol.

 

It was galled bad!
The nut was far enough down that nothing was sticking out of the bottom.
The top part exposed is the taper and threads.
Grabbing either one of them would wreck it.
I tried a C-clamp pressing the taper back in, but it was not enough force to stop the spinning.
Had a torch on the nut for a while, got it to spin half a turn and that was it.

I was cringing and cursing myself for ever having to use a hack saw or heat on fasteners on such a new truck.
Guess that’s what separates the DIY’s from the pro’s

 

That's how I did mine.