here is the update! Got the new coil spring compressors (harbor freight just swapped em no questions asked, I like that!)

My lower control arm bolts were frozen in place, so I did NOT removed the whole assembly. Instead I unbolted the fork from the strut, bolted the assembly at the top with the 3 bolts/nuts. and THEN re-assembled the fork to the strut. it didn't go exactly as easy as I just made it sound, but it wasn't too bad.

here are some more pictures

I should mention too that in the picture all I have on the top of the strut is 1 washer , no rubber spacers, I did later install them, but I barely had enough thread with the single washer but it worked and I was able to get it in the re and once the weight of the vehicle was on the springs I took that nut and washer off and assembled it the right way. worked great, did this on both sides.


here is a shot of the fork dis-assembled, it was a huge pain just to get that one side off, the lower fork bolt would NOT budge. but you can see in the pic the strut assembly hanging there from the 3 bolts.



This shot shows how I held the forks together while getting the first bolt in place, getting it together was a much bigger pain than dis-assembly do to a little bit of pressure on the forks. the first bolt was fairly easy to get back in , the other 3 were a pain.


Here is a shot after I got it done, yea its dark outside but you can still see it ok, the front is now a little higher than the rear, not a huge amount but its a bit higher than the spacer lift.