Ok, so in reading the answers it appears I'm a bit of an old school mechanic. So I'll give you my .2 cents and let you decide:
1. If you have air tools, you life will be alot easier doing these jobs. Buy yourself an impact gun and an air hammer. You don't need air tools, but this stuff is soooo much easier with them.
2. Lower ball joints.
-If your lower arms are stamped/welded sheet metal, the ball joints should be riveted in (or bolted if they've been replaced before). Use and angle grinder to cut the rivet heads off and then drive them out (air hammer is great for this). If bolts, I just cut them. They'll be rusty and not worth the trouble. Trust me, just cut them with the grinder and don't look back. I prefer the grinder to a "smoke wrench" because the rubber and grease doesn't smoke or burn as badly (or at all).
- if your lower arms are forged, the ball joints are pressed in. The proper press adapter and/or C clamp will work the best (well, taking the arm off and using a bench press is best), but I usually use the air hammer to drive them out (after I've unloaded the suspension of course!) by keeping them square to the bore and moving the hammer around. Clean the bore in the arm. Then, I find a proper sized piece of pipe, pipe fitting or large socket (yup, I've got 'em that big!) and use the floor jack and the weight of the truck to press them back in to the bore on the control arm. A little tap on the perimeter of the arm at teh ball joint bore is usually required to get it all the way home. This can be a little tricky if you don't get it right and the ball joint housing gets cocked and stuck. Slow and sure is the way to go here. The freezer trick mentioned above is a good one. If you also warm the arm, you may be able to get it all the way home before it all locks together (you have to work veeerryy fast and will only get one shot!). Not guarantees though, I've used it before while building jet aircraft engines for split bearing and such, but never ball joints. Principle is the same though...
3. Pitman arm.
All I can say is get ready to curse and swear if it's a 4x4. If I wasn't so cheap/poor, this is the job I would pay someone to do!
But, I have to do it myself so - Pull ALL the skidplating off right away or your life is going to be miserable beyond belief. Then there's lots of crossmembers and bracing in the way, they're welding in so just get used to working everything around them. I swear, If I have 5 minutes and a baseball bat in a room with the guy who designed this dogs breakfast.......well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty.
You will also need to disconnect the steering column at the box, unbolt the box from the frame rail and then maneuver it to where you can get the pitman arm puller on the arm. Nothing else will get the pitman arm off but a pitman arm puller. Save yourself the frustration and broken tools and just go buy one now. You also need a pickle fork to get the arm off the center link. My advice is to NOT try and beat it out. You're only going to be hammering on the sector shaft for the steering box and there's going to be so much play it's just futile. Lots of people have done it and will say they've done it, but you're taking your chances and I always just end up pissed off when I try. Long pickle fork is the way to go...3, maybe 4 whacks and it's off.
You need to remove the nut on the sector shaft holding the pitman arm on. I can't remember the exact size right now, but it's somewhere around 34 MM. If you're going to "strong arm" it off, do it before you unbolt the box from the frame rails. If you have air tools, Impact gun will take it off in short order, anywhere at any angle. I use the impact on the pitman arm puller also, I can imagine doing it with a socket and ratchet but it can be done (lots of swearing).
4. Idler arm.
Pickle fork is pretty much the only way you will get it off the center link. Or a press/c clamp press. I've seen lots of guys beat on these things for an hour only to go buy the fork. Then, its just bolts on the frame rail.
5. Alignment.
Not really required after doing this type of work, but highly recommended. Your choice.
that's about all I can think of off the top of my head.
It can all be done at home but it's mostly PITA, grunting, swearing, greasy, lying on your back work. On a diesel, it's even more of a PITA because there's almost always sooty greasy oil EVERYWHERE.
But, if you're low on cash, it's economical to do it yourself on a Saturday. But get up early and plan to spend the day if you haven't done it before. Maybe more if the truck is old and rusty.
But as a plus, you have all those neat tools for the next time (unless you rented/borrowed them from the parts store) when you're done!
I love tools.......that's how I justify doing my own work. The money I'd be giving someone to do the job goes into tools I can keep and use next time.
Good luck.
PS. by the way, they can line the truck up with a bad pitman and idler arm. You're steering may be loose and they can't guarantee the wheel will be centered, but it has no real effect on the camber/caster/toe which is what wears your tires and has the truck tracking weird down the road. I used to see it all the time in the garage before I moved into the aerospace industry (par tof the reason I left automotive). Someone would come in, the tech would write up everything he could possibly find related to the problem in any remote way. Most customers just don't know the difference and front end work is expensive by the shop rate manual (we used mitchell at the time, not sure about now) and easy as pie to actually do.. However, the ball joint does need to be done to do an alignment.
