Axle seems stuck?, In-out play is reduced Options

[HectortheRican]

So just finished installing the front LCAs with poly bushes and everything is going fine, until I try to reinstall the driver side upright. It seems like the in-and-out play of the axle is vastly reduced, like something is obstructing movement within the boot.
This issue is not letting me reinstall the upright because I cannot get it to reach the installation points. Either I bolt it to the strut knuckle and I can't swing it into the ball joint mount, or I bolt up the ball joint and I can't get it to the strut knuckle. The passenger side went in just fine.
Any ideas?

[HectortheRican]

I tried one last time to try and get the **** thing to go into the tulip, and voila - I found the magic angle.
Me being the masochistic monkey that I am, I removed it again to try and figure out why that was the only possible angle for entry. I got my calipers out again and found out that one of the tripod bearings is slightly larger in radius than the others. Is this normal?

Anyway, since I already had a feel for how it went in last time ( )... I was able to put it back in the tulip with only a little bit of jostling this time. And that's that. That was the only thing keeping me from finishing, so she's on all fours again and I've got an alignment scheduled for tomorrow! I did my best to have the new outer tie rods at the same length and that saved the alignment a little bit, I think. But with a lifetime alignment at Firestone, I'm just gonna go be done with it.

Thanks for all the troubleshooting and help, guys!