I assembled most of the front suspension on my truck today. I have big block springs in it, and I am using a chain through the shock towers and lower arm to hold it, rather than using the shock and leaving it in tension for a couple months.
The problem is the strong spring has extended the susp. so far that the upper ball joint is basically contacting the spring, keeping it from going any further. I tried putting a jack under the lower arm (I sat the engine on to give it some weight), and it didn't compress at all, it just raised the vehicle. I had an iron bb with iron heads sitting on the front.
All I wanted to do was get the thing compressed enough to get the spring a little straighter, and get the ball joint off it.
Question is, if I leave it pressing on that ball joint for a long time, will it hurt it??
Attached is a pic of what is going on.