ball joint replacement how to ?

While changing my swaybar bushings I found a bad ball joint. Bentley manual says you have to press the axle shaft out of the housing to get clearance to acsess the stud nut. Does anyone know if the axle shaft is difficult to press out? Also Bentley says to mark the position of the ball joint in relation to where it mounts on the control arm. Is that necessary when replacing an old ball joint with a new one? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

Guess nobody had to deal with this one before so here goes. To begin with the ball joint stud nut is 19 mm not 18 mm as stated in my Bentley manual. The axle shaft would come out a little smoother with a press but I just used a punch that fits in the center divot on the shaft and gave it a few good wacks and it slid right out. I had to cut the old stud nut off but the 3 control arm bolts came out easy. The new joints came with the stud nut but I had to specify the control arm bolts to be ordered. Also get a new axle nut. All of these fasteners are of the locking type and should be replaced with new. Hope this will help anyone who might be thinking of taking this on. Aside from the stud nut problem I would rate this job as easy. An alignment will be done on my car but as it is it drives straight and a lot tighter.

Thanks. I'm sure if we keep our cars long enough it will happen to us all.