I don't have the ac lift but I still had to remove that ball joint on mine. The one thing I believe many underestimate is how hard you really have to hit the pickle. I couldnt get it to budge until I really laid into it. I had my brother hold the fork and then I grabbed the hammer with both hands and really put my back into it. A couple of super hard wacks and it popped off. On the other side I didn't even waste my time withe the lighter hits. I went full bore right away and it popped off in 4 hits.