Yeah it was a mistake on the ball joint price, I got the lower's for $28 a piece but the upper's were $60 a piece. Gonna hopefully bang them all out tomorrow.

Can I just pop them loose with a fork and then take the 4 bolts off that holds them to the control arm? I assume if I put a jack a little below the lower control arm, that when I bang the fork into the upper joint and separate it, the steering knuckle will fall off and the lower control arm will be caught by the jack, is that corret?

Any tips on easy ways to get the lowers off?

So the tranny has no filter in it huh? I bought the Haynes manual and it showed a filter, but they cover so many years in these things that I think they are showing an older tranny, and I also think it's whatever tranny is behind the 22R engine.