Thank you frosty. I’ve been going over that second video like a hawk, wish he was more of a talker, but still thankful for it. First one was new. Good to have.

I was trying to find anything I could use as a spacer today and coming up empty handed. Anything long enough to go over the bolt doesn’t leave enough space. And short socket don’t have a big enough hole. Nothing with the kit that was helpful (of course).

With the Covid on this is going to suck (we’re in lockdown).
I’ve got some steel pipe for pipe clamps in the basement… wonder what the odds of a slice of that being the right diameter and it being anywhere near strong enough?
I’d hate to have come this far and be lost for a lack of tube.

 

If you watched the first video , he used it has you have shown in your photo, he then takes it off, screws a it fully open then puts a blank piece over the hole and uses it to push against the thread to complete the push out

 

Good catch. I'm hoping once the seal is broken I can rig something of the sort for the rest.
Now if only I had the time to go outside and play!

 

Joy!
I snuck in an hour or so and managed to get the damn things out!
You were right about having to get something under there to push it the rest of the way.
The top took a pile f force on the old breaker bar, thought I broke something when it finally gave. But really quite civilised. I used a piece of wood to keep the C clamp from spinning so I could keep it 90º to the truck (hint for future readers).
Bottom was actually pretty civilised. I was able to get the clamp through the hole of the top one so I didn't have to push against the top brakes like I've seen in some of the videos (including that one above - checked). I felt better about that.

And now I have this wonderful new sculpture (pretty sure I'm never getting that off again):

 

And now for the next problem. Because nothing is easy:
Trying to push the new bottom one in, but the damn cup is just a hair too large. It keeps slipping off one side or the other (see photo).
Seems to me that the tube is just a tiny bit too big. Is this a metric/imperial thing? Don't know what to do about that. Tempted to just give the tube a bit of a squeeze and make it an oval. But not happy about that idea.
Nor do I have a clue what I'm going to do once I get it more than halfway in and the top starts poking through. With the tubes provided: the smallest one is the exact size of the inside of the top of the ball and the next size up is too big to fit in the lower bracket. Not to mention there's not enough space in the clamp for two of the tubes at once.
So I've left it again for another good think.

 

just use the bottom with no cup on it. then use a cup on top. if the cup is the wrong size, go to home depot and get an appropriate sized piece of gas pipe and cut to size.

 

Oh I remember “just go to Home Depot”. That was in the before times. Full lockdown here till June at least. Hard to curb side an unknown inside diameter pipe…

 

If you cut a slot in the cup the squeeze it in a vice the weld up the cut perfect fit, if you cant do that then take the cup off, and blank the hole with a large bolt, put you old nut on the new ball joint thread to prevent it being damaged the push it in

 

I've broken down and ordered the upgraded ball kit with all the extra bits and pieces. A completely redundant $150, but it will make the other side easier too. I'll be pissed if that doesn't have the right sized cup though.
Still cheaper than the mechanic by a long shot...

 

The more tools you buy the more money you save