The BFH is the preferred tool in every shop I have ever worked in. Turn the wheel out so you can get a clear shot at it and then take a nice sized hammer, I like a 32 oz., and hit the knuckle where it goes through. Smack it really hard once or twice and it should pop right out. After better than a decade of working in Volvo dealers I had never seen those tools you speak of until I went to work at BMW where they were used on rare occasions.

Sounds like the electronic manual method huh? That is funny because it has little or nothing to do with it, simply the way I do them. Taking the hub/knuckle loose from the strut sounds like a nightmare indeed. The only thing I might have glossed over is to remove the connector for the ABS sensor as it will usually keep you from stretching the strut assembly out of the way.

Good luck,
Mark