If you have the Progressive lowering kit then you do need to remove the damper rod from the lower leg.
Try this......get an old wooden broom handle that has a taper on one end. Set the lower leg on a rag on a solid surface (concrete) and pound the taper end down into the top of the damper.
Either hold the wooden handle with a pair of channel locks while removing the bottom bolt or invert and clamp the wooden handle in a vise.
Worked for me when the whole assemble spun trying to remove.
