Yes you can lift under the ball joint, I've done it for years. Might wanna remove any grease zerk (aftermarket joint) there, it can crush it.
One generally changes the entire axle now, looking for single parts is almost impossible and usually costs you more anyway, the industry moved toward unitized assemblies, you make far more money selling multiple parts than just one or two. Why Ford was forced to do the same, I can't wait to have to buy an entire engine just to get some damn sparkplugs. On the Focus axle mentioned below I got the entire pass side axle, both shafts of it for cheaper than just the intermediate bearing was going for by itself. Kind of silly/stupid. Of course the bearing alone was max quality, the axle included one probably low grade Chinese, we'll see.........
As far as the joints tearing up quick once they click? Absolutely no way unless like pulling a turbo and/or hard MTX use. These are overengineered for the application and I've pulled them apart down to the last ball at high mileage and the balls won't even so much as mark as long as boot stays intact, the wear edge that makes the click is very subtle too and plenty of slot engagement left to carry load. I used a new boot and back in the car axles went. Anyone shearing balls through the cages is flat abusing the car in my view, of course, some of us like to do that. If clicking in straight ahead position or barely turned, yeah, a problem there, but not even nearly if the click is light and only at max steer. The joint in that example doesn't even approach the wear edge 95% of the time car is driven. The outer joint is the one that clicks, it is the turning joint, the inners do not have that load. I only check for torn boot now, I don't even take them apart any longer and out of 6 cars only one axle bought since '90 when I stupidly overextended the inner joint to crack while doing tensioner work once, jacked up the engine too high and too much angle on the driveshaft cracked the trunnion there. Chalk that one up to dumbass. That one was on a Focus last year. I even kept the old axle for spare parts since I have another Focus, I won't hesitate to yank the outer CV and reuse it again if needed.
VWs while highly touted are a joke, I sold more parts for them than any other brand while at the parts store and that put the 'finely engineered German car' statement in the trash as far as my concern, with Beemer right behind them. They are both pretty much mostly crackerbox cars now like these but these axles if VW do that are far superior. I got a '94 Tempo with clicking axles for years like I said. Driven since '95. Had an '88 Tempo until last month, the same, both cars over 200K and both with clicking that began around 125K. ONLY when turned to hard steer limit. I'm still driving the wheels off of them with original axles. My Contour does it and for years, my Focus now only on one side since I changed the one axle mentioned. The cars are rock solid dependable. You don't even know the click is there unless you look for it, it does not show whatsoever in normal driving, you have to force it to do it. Like the below.................
Find a church parking lot or other empty parking lot at night and then go into the middle and then take the wheel and lock it all the way one way and slowly keep turning in a circle, then max steering the other way to do the same. You'll hear it if there. Clicking from CV does not come and go, you should be able to call it up instantly doing that, if not it may be the diff again.
Yet the link website link says the axles are bad, hilarious. They were bad then 20 years and 100+K miles ago. Something else........if you can't tell the difference in light clicking and clicking loud enough to possibly fail in the next minute, well, my view is that you need to walk home to teach yourself a lesson. The two noises are nowhere near the same.
Like said before, if showing at normal moderate turns or straight ahead you have an issue and need one then, just saying all that fear stuff out there is pure crap though. CV axle changes are easy high profit work, naturally the mechs will steer toward getting as much of that as they can, even to out and out lying to get the work. What the industry does best..........look at the above link and tell me who tells you if they click AT ALL they're bad-replace them! I rest my case. They can click at the steering extreme well under 100K and still last ten more years, you either get that, or you don't.
And reversing a CV joint to make it turn in opposite direction???, FANTASTIC..........ALLY STUPID, we don't want ONE wear spot, now we are going to create TWO (one on each side of the slot) to interfere with each other now, you have no idea how retarded I think that is. All from the guys who want you to think they are smart and buy parts from them..............flipping CVs will guaranteed have the two wear edges fighting with each other for sure. The ball is forced to slide to accommodate angle change by design there, two different loosenesses in there will have that ball sticking on wonky edges all over the place to not slide smoothly as designed. Even half wear doubled by two by flipping the joint is worse than single sided at twice the wear amount, I'd bet money on that.
Caveat Emptor.................my cars are ATX and easier on CV joints, MTX are a little harder and a LOT harder on them if you hotdog the car. Your stuff and do as you will..........