That's weird. Never heard of that happening, did you get the step washers in the right way around?
The shims go next to the o-rings, the step washers go next to the bearings with the step towards the bearing.


And I am realizing that many people don't seem to know that the link sockets are one-way, especially the paddle control pushrod sockets. They will bind and require excessive force to be removed or installed if they are put on backwards.