Diagnosing weird suspension play when replacing bearings

I just replaced the wheel bearings and CV dust seal on my truck. When I went to replace the dust seal between the axle and the knuckle, there were some differences between the driver and passenger side. On my driver side, I unbolted the LCA from the knuckle (two bolts). My knuckle was the only thing that moved when I took those bolts off, probably by an inch down. So when I went to connect the LCA back on the knuckle I had to get a pry bar and lift by the UCA to get the knuckle to sit right. I also had to use alot of elbow grease to get the axle off of the knuckle on my drivers side, after cutting the wheel all the way to the right, moving the knuckle and axle apart at the same time, etc.

When I went to do the passenger side, as soon as I removed the last bolt from the LCA, the LCA shot down very fast, as the spring decompressed. This was very weird because when I did it on my drivers side, this was not the case. The LCA did not move at all. I'm assuming what happened on the passenger side is what normally happens when unbolting the LCA. Now when I took the axle out of the knuckle on my passenger side, it was much easier moving the knuckle away to get the axle out of the housing. Which was also very strange to me as well... maybe time for a new tie rod on passenger side? But I am stumped on the LCA not moving part; seized LCA bushings? Bad shock/spring? TIA!