Originally Posted by unworthy1

yep, typically the plastic "seals" both on top or bottom don't make contact with any bearings whether or not there are caged retainers. You should be fine to replace the caged bearings with the same SIZE balls but fill the entire cup raceway with as many balls as fit and then remove one. Helps to use a grease with some "stickiness" so the balls stay in place until everything is back together.