I was having trouble getting my moog ball joint to go in straight. I was pressing on the outer ring which looked like good steel. The instructions said not to press on the name plate which I think is the softer metal inside the outer ring and their is writing on it. I had most of the joint in and it was crooked but couldn't make any progress after numerous attempts, so I switched my rigging to push on this big center portion (copper in color) and it went right in because i think the force was closer to where it was needed. Did i do this right or wrong?

if nothing looks bent you're likely fine, but yeah you should only push on the outside circle I believe.

thanks