Well, we have some of the "clamps" soaking in the bath tub in hot water. My husband says they will loosen up more quickly by doing that. After they are warmed up, we are going to dry them off and slip them onto 7/8" dowels that we bought at the hardware store. I brought one of the clamps with me to the store, and we found that the 3/4" dowels fit pretty easily; my dh could get the 7/8" dowel inside, but it was more difficult. So, I am hoping once we do all this the clamps will become loose enough for me to be able to get onto the rods.
Not sure exactly when I will get a chance to try this out as I have a practice quilt in the frame at the moment. I will post an update after all this to let everyone know if I am able to load a quilt by myself afterwards. Based on previous posts, I am very hopeful this will work.