Hi guys, I'm looking for some advice from anyone that's removed the swinging arm bearings on an XT!

I took apart the rear end of my '05 XTX yesterday to inspect & grease the swingarm & linkage bearings and found that one of the seals on the main swingarm pivot has failed and the left side bearing & bushing have had it.

With some difficulty I managed to press the bearing out with my bench vice. My thinking to press the bearing through to the inside of the swingarm, pressing the bushing and oil seal with it. The bearing started to move quite easily but then it got caught up about half way through the housing (I now suspect this is due to corrosion in the housing from water ingress). I did manage to get it out in the end, (heat helped!)

The bearing on the other side of the swingarm looks in good condition and I'm almost tempted to leave it, but the replacement bearing kit I'm going to order comes with both bearings/bushings/seals so I'd be daft not to replace both.

Now my question is, since no water has got into this bearing - there's no rust or corrosion that I can see - I was wondering - should I be able to press the bearing into the bushing and into the oil seal as I planned to for the failed bearing on the other side? Or should I be trying to drift the bush and oil seal towards the inside with a punch, and then with those out of the way, press the bearing out towards the outside?

I hope this makes sense!

Thanks!