I had a similar problem when I changed my handbrake cable earlier this year! In the end I took the car over to Mike Duncans , having done all the expensive work in stripping out the interior to replace the cable. He struggled for half an hour until his son Ben told him to pull the hub!
There really is no access and my concern was that I'd pop off the springs and then not be able to refit them. Pulling the hub is not that easy either...unless you have a special puller made up...as had Mike.
