Replaced left front ½ axle and ball joint. Now during reassemble, I can’t get the ball joint ‘stem’ back into lower control arm ‘hole’. The strut moves outward (to side) as I jack brake assembly up. YouTube vids show guys doing this without much trouble.. I used a cable winch to pull strut inwards (towards engine) Not too successful, looks like I’m doing something wrong..shouldn’t need massive force. FYI, I removed torsion rod, but not the steering control arm.
RESPONSE
Something is binding. It sounds like you may not have gotten the new axle seated all the way in. Either in the transmission or in the hub bearing. Should not need a jack on the brake assembly to get it into the lower control arm. You should have the car supported on jack stands, then jack up the control arm into place.