I have done this repair on my own car. I didn't separate the ball joint for mine, but I did remove the 32mm axle nut (with a screwdriver stuck in the brake caliper). I then marked the position of the top cambered nut on the lower strut mounting to the hub, undone the brake and ABS brackets, removed the bolts and got the hub to swing forward enough to remove the entire CV.
I did have an issue where when I removed the CV I nicked the Axle seal on that side and had a small gear oil leak for about 500km. Don't just yank the CV out, use a small pry bar to pop it out a little then remove it gently. As for why I risked stuff pulling the CV, I just didn't want to do the repair under the car. I replaced that axle seal with a mallet and the original seal and with the new boot the axle has been good thus far.