Ford Super Duty (1999-2016) :: Tight Steering Knuckle With Ball Joint Replacement

My 2004 f250 ball and u joint replacement job is at a bit of a stand still. Tore it down, brought the knuckle and axle shafts to an ex mechanic I know, because he has a 20 ton Harbor freight shop press. He mostly used a hammer, bashed out the old ball joints (I already had removed the u joints). U joint turned out fine.

I did notice the upper ball joint protruded a very slight bit on one side in the knuckle, meaning you could feel with your finger on the underside of the joint and on the one side it is not exactly flush with the interior of the knuckle. I would say it protrudes no more than a thirty second or so.

I brought it home, installed the boots on the moog joints, (the bottom was unusually difficult to put on), greased the joints and hung the knuckle on the axle tube, by a few turns on the lower joints nut. I then inserted the camber sleeve on the top stud, torqued the bottom to 49 fp then the top to 67 and finally the bottom to 150. End result, very stiff movement on the knuckle. No tie rod attached, and it takes to hands to move it from the "stopped" position,(turned all the way). I am sure it is stiffer than when I did the other side.

I tried loosening the nuts completely, same stiffness. I redid the torque sequence, no change. Tried hammering the ears around where the joints seat no improvement. The fellow who installed into the knuckle came and took a look. He agreed the knuckle was stiffer than you would hope, but, he suggested Putting it all together, as he believed they would loosen up before too long. I am not sure whether to try that, or remove the knuckle now, and redo with new joints. Pros and cons to either approach.

My question is : Does a knuckle become more sketchy by the time it is dealing with the pressing of a third set of ball joints? If I finish the install now, will a stiff knuckle action lead to other mechanical wear within a thousand miles or so, while I wait to see if they loosen up?