Hello all! I am an owner of a 2005 Ranger XLT 4x4 extended cab 4.0 Liter...( post some pics later )...I bought this truck new and for the most part I've just had to do routine maintenance on it. It's been a good truck and I hope I can get a lot more years out of it. I have a little over 120,000 miles on it now.

I have a question though. I've been looking through some of the posts here and I haven't seen a for sure answer to my question. So here's my question:

I need to replace the CV axle on the left side. Since I have high mileage anyway, I was planning to just replace both CV axles and the wheel hubs at the same time. So, once I remove the wheel hub, is it possible to just pass the CV axle right through the hole in the knuckle without having to remove the bolt from the upper control arm?

I've seen some articles where it says to remove the top bolt on the knuckle so that it can be pulled out and down to give room to pull out the hub side of the CV axle, but if I have the hub off and out of the way can the CV axle just be pulled through the knuckle?

Trying to save some work if possible. Any advice on this would be appreciated.
Nice to meet you all and thanks!

Bryan