Just finished the CV outer driver side boot replacement described at the beginning of this longggggg thread and re described on page 10(?).

It took me about 3 hours but I was successful and if I did it again could probably do it in 30 mins.

A few things I felt were important.
-I de-greased the axle so my vice grips would not slip off.
-I used a vice grip that had a curved mouth to better grip the axle
-I had the vice grip handles pointed to the front of the X with tire turned to Right hand turn and came in from back of front wheel
-I mounted the vice grips about an inch away from the CV hub and backed the vice grips up with a hose clamp to prevent the vice grips from slipping
-Used a big iron bar and big hammer for a lever
-Lastly as you hammer on the lever, support the tire with your hand or have someone do it because the wheel with have a tendency to swing out with each blow of the hammer.

Once properly and snugly positioned against CV hub and grips... the axle popped right out.