Special workbench. That was meant to be funny, eh? If one reads the green book, there is a special workbench of sorts with a special tool number on it - 5045 - a hook made of stiff wire called a retainer designed to hold the strut assembly just outside of the wing. Brake hydraulics remain intact. The only imagined use for a vise, as you ask, might be if you neglected to loosen the gland nut before disconnecting the top journal, but I suppose an overgrown pipe spanner would do the trick.