I was in the same boat and what I had to do was buy an hydraulic hub puller and it was tight going you need to be careful impacts go right up the shaft and into the gearbox so stop hitting it. Mine was described as "Wheel Hub Press Puller Hydraulic 10 Ton 4 & 5 Bolt VW Audi Vag Peugeot Citroen " and was about £73 I was having some trouble with it but topping it up with trolley jack oil did the trick as it was low the other drive shaft pushed out with my thumb. This is a picture of the one I got
Hub puller 10 ton
View attachment 140987
The front suspension on my car has been changed both ways. The first by leaving the driveshaft in place and taking the front damper out of the hub. The second by taking the driveshaft out of the hub and taking the front damper and the hub off of the car at the same time.You could just leave it in there and replace your shocks as planned.
It’s exactly what a garage would do over here. I’ve done it myself a couple of times
Yes, the springs were compressed with a set of spring compressors that we cut down to fit up closer to the top mount.I have tried, but found that the driveshaft is limiting the amount of travel of the hub, and the dampers won't come out for just a couple of centimeters or so...
I suppose you had to compress the springs in place, right? Unfortunately my spring compressors don't find under there...