I did the upper and lower ball joints on my car last summer and after spending money on tools I thought I needed (you can never have enough tools
) this is what I did.
I used a ball joint seperator, like you had a link for, for the upper ball joint and I used a pickle fork for the lower and yes you need to cut the end of the fork down. Now comes the part that got me, you HAVE to use the right size pickle fork because if you don't you will spend hours fighting with it. The first side I fought with and then I started using a fork with a smaller space between the forks and it popped apart in three hits and the second side I used the right fork and it took three to five hits. After I got the steering knuckle out I knocked the old ball joint out with a large socket and a hammer (they came right out). I then took the steering knuckle and the new lower ball joints to a local indi and he pressed them in for $30 each.
When I did this job I jacked up the car removed the wheel and then lowered the car on an axel stand (with a block of wood on top to protect the frame from getting damaged). I then put a jack under the end of the LCA and raised it up a little bit and then put an axel stand under the LCA and lowered the arm until it was resting on the stand. I never needed a spring compressor and you only need one if you are removing the LCA. I have read about people removing the spring with out a compressor but that sound like a big risk.
If I knew what tools I would need before I did this job it would have cost less than $250 total for tools, parts and the indi. I got a quote from a shop before I did this and they said $1200 to do it.