Fork rebuild help

Can a '95 YZ250 fork have it's oil seals changed without removing the
compression bolt and damper rod/piston?

My friend is doing the same work on his '00 WR400F, which has very similar
forks. He did not need to remove these parts. Just removed the spring and
the seal retaining clip, then pulled the fork tube and slider apart, with
the oil seal popping out.

I tried this on mine, and it won't budge. I'm afraid to pull harder, since
the repair manual makes it sound like the damper and compression bolt must
be removed first.

I don't have the special tools required to remove them, and would rather not
have to buy them.

Any input?

Thanks