Question about replacing Ball Joints?, Hard time getting them out.. Options

[Badkarma]

So last night i attempted to replace my Ball Joints with a friend of mine. i took off the wheel, lower strut bolts, and all the bolts for the ball joint.
i don't know if i should have taken off the "spindle nut"(?) that holds on the rotor/brakes/caliper assy to the end of the CV shaft or not. i tried using a Ball Joint seperator, and a Tie Rod seperator(pickle fork). it just would not come out.

any advice on what i should do next? i can get it on a lift next saturday. but i would like to know where i went wrong.

Thanks,
Erich