Forgot to mention two things I had to do..It's been mentioned on the forums, but on the tripod, I did have to add an extra nut to the rod at the tightening handle..It bottomed out before it was actually tight so I adjusted it but after that the acorn nut couldn't lock the handle down..
Upon closer inspection after it was tight, I could see light between the top tripod plate and the bottom of the mount, on one side..I suspected the top plate was not level all the way across so I cut a 7 1/2" round piece of cork gasket material and put it between the plate and bottom of the mount..Now I don't have to tighten the spreader as much to get a solid, secure fit and no light is visible at all between the top plate and mount....I suspect this would have caused a lot of vibration to the mount, so some of you might want to take a look at yours also..
I also plan on cutting myself a clutch disk for the DEC axis if I have any slippage..So far, it holds it just fine..And I tighten it just enough to hold it..
..To a "firm feel" as the manual says..