granted
@Pudding , it would be a piece of cake with the front end off..
we have done Aka's clutches' & gearboxes'... yeah that's right 'sssss!!! he's never happy with the clutch or broken something!!
so yeah, we have done this job on axles a good handful of times now with front end on, you just got to find the right angle (and remove the offside driveshaft cup), including other Vags like the 1.8t etc.
@absolute its not as bad as it sounds, as long as you know how to undo and put bolts back which you do, you'll be fine.. :)
I don't think this is a "hard job" at all really.. its just time consuming, that's it! like most jobs really. I would happily spend lets just say a day if you've not done it before, and save myself 100's doing it myself. even if its something ive not done before, with a bit of research and some common/basic knowledge.. you're good to go in my eyes! I will only take my car to a garage, for things like tracking, MOT, tyres, Air con.. 10 tonne presses and all the kind of stuff i cant do at home due to some machinery! I literally cannot take my car to a garage to do a job that I could do myself.. for the sake of getting off my lazy ass to go and do it lol might take me longer, but the job gets done and I get in the bath thinking.. bugger me I must of saved myself thousands and thousands over the years! until I get to an age where I physically can't or become too lazy.. I will continue to do it all myself
if you got the tools mate.. smash it yourself! (soz if I went a bit off subject lol)