Turn the top nut as far up,(towards the ball) as you can. Don't force it, you'll wreck the threads. Cut rod between top nut & crossbeam. It is very easy with an angle grinder & cutoff wheel, use a hacksaw if you have to. Stainless 304 is not much harder than regular steel.
Now push a slightly bent stick through as you remove the pieces of DS rod, so as not to drop the compression tube. Depending on where the bends occurred in the rod, you might have to cut twice. The nuts WILL NOT turn through any bent section. Either buy new nuts, or cut the rod in a couple of places.
