If there were burrs and paint it can take some force. Perhaps the gage is not reeding correctly, because it still sounds like a lot to me. If you were to drop a needle and then force things to go together enough to get the clips in you should see a dent or crack in the end of a cup from the needle trying to get out. I assume you would notice that, and you did not say anything about it, so the u-joints must be fine.
