Wow... what a disaster. For anyone planing this i highly advise forgetting about the vice grip circlip method. I ruined a set of vice grips and found it pretty much impossible to get the circlip out. Tried for hours and hours. Waste of time.

What did work is inner boot and tripod removal. Get 2 boots and do it that way. I did it with the axle still hooked up to the hub. And only straight arm removed. Bang the tripod off and change the boots. Grease is different.