Finally, the voice of reason; thank you again. Toasty, too, he learned not to leave his phone inside for when I start to want to throw wrenches.

The second side of the truck went much smoother overall. Of course. The trick is as LT said, don't bother with the torsion bars. Pop the upper ball joint, the outer tie rod end then the bottom ball joint (bottle jack under arm at all times). Pull the clip out of the hub and maneuver away. Having a helper was the only way I could imagine doing it, but I guess it must be possible to get everything in place with some more smarts.

I now have new upper and lower ball joints, a new Pitman arm, new idler arm. Oh, and a set of Aisin manual hubs. Going for an alignment on Friday.

John B.