Greetings,

I'm working on the rear suspension, and I've had a hard time getting the pieces out. The sway bar link has a lot of tension on it, and trying to pull the knuckle back to attach the tie rod is nearly impossible (I set it the same length as the one I removed). The upper arm is also oddly tight. Could this be caused by the parking break not releasing? It's pulling in, seems like the parking brake, but I was sure I turned it off. Perhaps there's a better order of removal? I just didn't want to force it without being sure

 

The ebrake can be released by turning on the ignition pushing down and holding the ebrake switch in release while you turn off ignition and remove the key. This prevents the ebrake from engaging when you remove the ignition key.
However, I don't think the ebrake is preventing you from reattaching everything back up.
For the sway bar link at the bottom you're almost there. You can place a jack under the knuckle and slightly raise it a bit to line of the sway bar link bolt. You can use a hammer to lightly tap the sway bar link bolt in alignment. The tie rod end could be adjusted to reach. Plan on getting a 4 wheel alignment to be safe.

 

Extend tie rod to fit knuckle and connect with bolt.

Adjust new tie rod to same position as old one.

Have a 4 wheel alignment done.

 

Thanks for the replies! I hadn't held down the parking brake when I turned off the vehicle, it was still engaged (even though the light was off). Much better now