After years of dealing with some form of this problem, I got desperate. Don't laugh, I'm actually kinda proud of myself. A little duct tape on a stand, sand for ballast, and one of those heavy wrenches to put stuff together with...my problem is solved. I tried unsuccessfully to upload a photo
but I got it so that the thread is on an angle now and has no change of grazing the plastic at all now. One day when I figure out why it didn't upload I'll post it! Thank you!