LXD75 setup

How vital is the axis alignment procedure to make this scope
perform?
Either I'm not reading it correctly or doing something wrong. As
the scope
is slewing for it's first step the large knob that locks the cradle
to the
mount strikes the electrical panel & I have to abort it to prevent
any
damage. Also, do I need to have the tripod perfectly level for the
GOTO to
be dead on? I can level the tripod by itself but when I start
mounting
everything on it I'm sure it gets off at some point & I can't see
where I
can put a level on anything except the naked tripod. Thanks.

Robert