Ball Joints / Tie Rods

["Olenick, Jamison" <Olenick@ssims.nci.nih.gov>]

Can someone help me with replacing ball joint and tie rods.  
I need to know what i have to do to get the tie rods off of the car.  After
removing the cotter pin and the nut they still seem to be very very tight and I
can't get them off.  Do I need a special tool to remove them.
Secondly, I need to replace my ball joints but I am not sure how to remove them
with the spring tensioned.  Is there a way of releasing the tension on the
spring without using a spring compressor or not?

                                                Thanks, Jamie