I finally finished replacing the left half shaft. Here was my experience. Left outer boot torn for probably several months. I have two repair manuals as well as brickboard and volvospeed on how to replace shaft. Removing axle nut was very easy. Bought a 3 foot steel pipe at home depot that fit over my socket wrench. I removed the wheel and proceded to use the axle extractor tool to push out axle. After destroying two of them and trying to push it out for about two hours I decided that would not work. Finally I followed the recommendations of several mechanics and decided not to replace the boots but the whole half shaft even though I had no clunking sounds. At 130k miles it was time to replace it. So I took a large sledge hammer and it took approximately 8 full swings to knock it out. I examined the wheel bearing and the grooves were barely visible because there was so much metalic adhesive applied. So I cleaned the grooves out and proceded on to remove the bolt connecting the A frame piece to the hub. I also found after removing the bolt, getting the large pin out out of the hole very difficult. I used a screw driver to first push the pin down under the clamp. Then with one hand push down on the A piece which is under tension and then push in and rotate the hub clockwise. This allowed me to release the pin of the A piece from the hole in the hub but it was not like a wiggle but more like a full out bench press. Next I externally rotated the hub to get the axle out. Please be very carefull because the hub is under tension from the suspension or something. It feels like a springed hinge. You move it and then it snaps into either internal or external rotation depending upon how you move it. If your fingers are between the A piece pushing it down and you try to externally rotate the hub be mindfull of where your fingers are when the hub snaps into external rotation. I almost lost my finger. Removing the axle from the transmission also proved to be difficult. I used a screwdriver like it was recommeded to tap and push out the hub. There is very little room to put a screwdriver and something to tap it out. I ended up using a small crow bar using the 90 degreee angle side and putting that it between tranny and axle then hammering against crowbar. Putting new axle back in was also not just a wiggle it in either. Once I felt the axle spline was correctly aligned with the grooves, what worked for me was holding the axle in place with right hand and extending the shaft with left hand and then violently jamming it in until you feel it click in. Push the axle all the way in and then try to reattach the axle to hub. It will take strong manipulation between hub and axle. I have change my alternator, starter, timing belt, and other electrical crap on this car. Changing the left half shaft is not technically complicated compared to those things but it was the most physical for me. I hope this helps others who are about to change their shaft also. Oh by the way, I examined the old cv joint. I saw no damage at all but when I compared the way the old vs the new cv joint moved, the new one had much more tightness to it. On to replacing PNP