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This is the dark blue z71 model Tahoe that resembles the earlier model year Tahoes & pick ups. I seem to have a worn upper ball joint on the driver side and would like to replace it but I have never had the privledge of changing one before lol. Anyways... I have front IFS. Contol arms and torsion bars. The torsion bars run through the lower control arm and to me it seems like that may be a problem once I disconnect the upper control arm. Is this an issue? It seems like the shock will be the only thing holding the lower arm up once I disconnect the upper arm from the joint. Will the spring be a problem? Is so is their a trick around this without releiving pressure or disconnecting the spring?! I've heard of raising a floor jack up to the lower arm to hold it in place once the vehicle is raised. Is this a safe practice? Thanks for the help!

First off all, 71 Tahoe's do not have springs in the front. As you said in the beginning of your question, it has torsion bars.

All you have to do is to mount jack-stands as close to the lower ball joint as possible under the lower A-frame.

If you don't have a small right angle grinder with thin cut-off blades to cut the solid steel rivets off the upper ball joints and a Pickle fork to pop the ball joint out of the spindle, your better off having a trusted private mechanic or the local Chevrolet dealer do it for you. Box store suspension parts are junk! TRW, Moog are one step behind AC-Delco Distributor's ball joints which are made by Spicer.

You have "heard" incorrectly! Once the lower A-arm is let down on the jack-stands the weight of the front-end Keeps the torsion bar in tension. If you don't understand this, all the more reason to hire the job done. Shocks can be on or off the truck which has nothing to do with removing the ball-joint from the spindle or the grinding the rivets off the upper A-frames.