Yeah, pickle fork seems to be the best idea for this right now cause its just too jammed in there. I'll try to wedge out the clip first to make it easier, but the new ones have clips so I'm not too concerned with the condition of the old one.
If anyone is wondering this web site has great ball joint tools for our cars (separators very similar to the one in the manual) for a much lesser price than it is to rent one at Autozone... but I do realize you get that back.
http://www.kingtonytools.com/search....ll&joint&menu=
http://www.kingtonytools.com/product...sp?ItemNo=1336
http://www.kingtonytools.com/product...p?ItemNo=F0412
http://www.kingtonytools.com/product...sp?ItemNo=1914
http://www.kingtonytools.com/product...sp?ItemNo=1038