Ok, debating if I should do these myself or just take it to the shop and have them do it..... How hard are they to do with the 4wd crap to take off......??

 

I've never done ball joints but I've done pretty much all the other front end. It isn't hard to take the hub assembly and hub off. Just be methodical and maybe even take pictures. But be prepared to do more than just the ball joints because you'll surely find something else once you get in. Ex: brake pads, turn rotors, u joints, bearings, races, seals, etc.

 

I did mine 2 years ago.. It wasnt too bad of a job, like said above just be methodical.. the hardest part was beating the spindles off.. when you do the balljoints spend the extra money and do the adjustable camber kits also..

 

depending on mileage and past maintenance you will most likely need spring bushings, shackle bushings and I beam pivot bushings, good time to put new grease seals in and re pack the wheel bearings, check u joints in front axle shafts.
don't waste your time or money on caster camber sleeves they will get changed when it is aligned. if they are the factory installed sleeves and all wear components are changed they normally are in spec just putting the original sleeves back in (they must be marked when you take them out) . all that is about a day's work if you have the tooling to do it

 

I've changed the pivot bushings already, and prob due for new tie rod ends ands steer links... just not sure how good the ball joints are, got a 160k of miles just figured it was time to do them..... and I have an axle seal that is leaking, it's the driverside one on the split diff....are those hard to do? will I have to pull the whole axle apart to pull out the shaft??

 

drivers side axle slips in, passenger side in clipped in, the seals are internal in the 3rd member.
as for ball joints they need checked before they are replaces. I changed my original ball joints at 200,000 miles! they should have been done sooner but I just let them go.