Doug,
I do have the springs cranked down and the connection feels tight. If I hit something, which is typical of where I sail, alignment is lost. I've checked this by rapping a rudder with my hand, while the boat was out the of the water. The weakness of this system is that the connection is only as strong as a single wall thickness of the tubing. I would like to put on the H20 system which uses solid endcaps ( the whole cross section carries the load ) but I don't think it will fit my tubing. I saw a knuckle connection a while back (resembled a tie rod end) but can't remember where.

Jack