One good reason to use a torque wrench when putting it back on. You don't want to strip threads in a fork leg. Also good when tightening the cap nuts, don't want to snap off a stud.

Harbor Freight carries a good low cost torque wrench which is fine for the needs of the average rider. Get a couple coupons from bike or car magazines and buy them for $11.99 each. Money well spent. Car Craft was going to do a shoot out of torque wrenches, but the fact was the cheap tool they might have suspected of being not so good turned out to be very accurate. They did find if you don't back the tool off to minimum setting it can damage the mechanism (spring, and all can have that happen), good tools.

Do that and you won't have the same thing happen again.

spray the cable mount with WD40 or PB Blaster to get it to break loose. I believe the inner cable is inserted from the top so it will not come out when the drive is loosened and cable removed.