there is alot of friction on the bottom nut. If you havn't removed the adjuster bolt complketely, there is usually enough friction to hold it in place while you are cranking.. After reindexing I had to hold it with a wrench for a month or two, after the rust was holding it pretty well by itself. You don't have to remove the top nut to crank the tbars, jsut to reindex them. you can loosen the top nut a turn or three, and crank till they are bottomed out, the nut will "move" up by itself (as you crank) and you will have to tighten it back down afterwards. Why tighten it 3 inches, when you can tighten it 1/4 inch?