Evo tire carrier joints hard to get on

Hey guys, I got two of the joints on, but the other two seize up no matter what I do, they look kind of crooked going in, but they're most definitely not cross threaded, I got them in with my hands about 1/3 of an inch and it just seizes up. Should I just muscle them in? Anyone else have this issue?

Did you clean the threads out?

Yeah I did, also applied some grease to them and still couldn't get em, ended up breaking out the thread file and filing them a smidge just so they entered relatively easily, and once they get about 2/3 of the way in they pretty well stop and then I just cranked them down with a huge crescent wrench and a cheater bar. For the most part I've got them in finally.