I'm new to SolidWorks (although I spent some time working with ProE a good few years ago) so please excuse this question if it’s a beginners mistake…. 

I've made a number of components into subassemblies in a main assembly, however all my mechanical mates or unrestrained mates now no longer have any freedom? When I open the subassembly I can still click and drag components, but not from the higher level assembly?

Perhaps it’s supposed to work like this but is there a way I can keep some parts free? As an example, I have a crank and connecting rod on the output shaft of a gearbox/motor which pulls and pushes another component in a reciprocal motion. I would like to be able to simply demonstrate this motion by clicking and dragging in my top level assembly.

Thanks, Toby