What the heck is going on here?

[ryder.febo]

Ok.... What the heck is going on here?

When I go to the higher level assembly all the brackets are just off floating in some space. No idea what space, or what is defining it to be this location. They aren't locked and can be moved around all willy nilly.

Why is this a problem? Because in the second picture you'll see that I have either mated or grounded EVERYTHING that is floating in the higher level. I'm at a loss for why this is doing this. Am I completely mistake on what grounding things does? Does it not fix things in place in the sub-assembly, and therefore in all assemblies the sub is used?

[jeff_strater]

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@ryder.febo wrote:

My designs are always multiple sub-assemblies deep with a lot of external linked components. 
So I guess the answer is I should forget that ground is even a thing.

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I would call that an exaggeration.  I do use ground, even on designs that are intended to be sub-assemblies.  It is useful (I would say necessary) to try out any mechanism motion that exists within the sub-assembly. You just need to be aware of the fact that it does not come across Insert, is all.  And, if your design contains any non-rigid joints, you certainly need Ground in your top-level assembly.