Not sure if your question has completely been answered so....
When I adjust I jack the front end up taking the weight off the suspension, pull the wheel off on the corner I want to work on. Undoing the sway bar probably helps but I never do. I'll usually give it a shot of PB Blaster or WD40 to help keep things moving while i'm working. Beyond that, its just a matter of getting that little pin to align with the holes in the collars and getting enough pressure on it to break it loose. I think I put a pipe on the wrench one time to get enough leverage to break it loose. It's been awhile.
One thing that I think someone touched on but maybe not is settling.
You really have to let these springs settle before you know what you have. Mine net gain was close to 4" IIRC but after a couple days or maybe it was a week, it settled down an inch. Also you'll find that you'll get the "Toyota Lean" which the coil-overs are very handy for correcting.
What I ended up doing was cranking it down to 3" the minute I had it on, then when it settled... you guessed it, back under there cranking my life away lifting it back up. And I still tore a CV boot...