UPDATE:
So I disconnected the strut, ziptied the axle out of the way so the back of the carrier has access, then popped the 2 strut bolts back in place to the carrier was upright. I proceeded to do a whole lot of wire brushing on the axle/hub splines and went to work constructing my DOUBLE BRUTAL slide hammer. I have 2 rental slide hammers right now, put both 5 lb weights together on one rod with the flange attached to the hub with 3 lug nuts, and started BRUTAL HAMMERING.
I counted the whacks, at 34 the hub popped off. Probably would work just as well with the one 5 lb weight, just might take more whacks
Pic of my DOUBLE BRUTAL HAMMER, I have two of the below, I just put both weights on one rod (thats what she said)
The circlip was being a pain, as one side was rusted pretty bad in place in the carrier, ended up getting one side out and put my vice grips on to pull the rest out, circlip pliers weren't working so well.
Took out the dremel and started wire wheeling the rust off, got most off, but for the heavier stuff i'll use a sanding attachment on. As expected the inner race comes out stuck to the hub. Used the cut-off wheel and drilled a nice slot in the race, took a few mins going slow and making sure not to nick the hub or go too deep too quick. Using my handy industrial chisel/punch set from harbor freight ($10!) I took a nice FAT chisel and whacked the slot, that cracked it loose enough to slide off the hub, no a single lick of damage whatsoever so I will reuse the hubs, just want to clean up the rust better, especially on the inside of the hub where the axle nut is, thats where I have to use a sander bit to get the heavy stuff off. Doesn't matter really since its cosmetic but I want to get them as clean as possible. Oh yeah, don't go cheap on this job and spend the extra 8 bucks to get 2 new dust covers, mine are rusted more than a car being dipped in salt every day. The old ones are pressed in place with the hub, just give a few whacks to the back and they pop off too.
Now I was all ready to pull out the old bearing using the harbor freight Bearing press kit, but I found out the huge honking nut for the kit is too bit for any of my wrenches/sockets. My wrenches go up to 1 1/8", sockets go up to 1". A return trip to harbor freight should rectify that, going to pick up a 3-4 lb mini sledge as well, never know when another BRUTAL HAMMER is needed, especially since after the bearings are in place, I'm going to do my outer CV boots before the axle gets driven back into the hub. I DO NOT want to go through this much disassembly again any time soon!
Making a hell of a mess in the garage but having fun so far, and learning a lot about my X!
So just so I have this correct, when I press the new bearing in, I use a disc that covers the ENTIRE WHOLE WIDTH of the bearing so the pressure is spread evenly? Then when the hub gets driven in I use a disc on the backside that only puts pressure on the INNER race? One chance to get this right! haha