The Teflon pads of the alt. bearings on a big, bum heavy dob are placed anywhere between 40 to 60 degrees apart. This is fine with a BIG, BUM HEAVY DOB... You have plenty of mechanical leverage advantage - you can swap between a tiny 6mm plossl and a 1kg EP and experience no balance issues. But, as aperture decreases, you lose the leverage advantage. The COG begins to match the geometric centre, and such a close placement of the Teflon pads makes maintaining a balance impossible.
The lateral squeeze I mention is done by increasing the angular separation of the pads, say between 120 to 160 degrees. The trunnion is then not just sitting on top of the pads, but the pads also push in from the side - so you get a lateral squeeze!
This helps maintain balance for a much wider range of eyepiece weights.
A really short tube as yours, if you swap between small eyepieces and 1kg bruts, you will still need a counterweight with the big eyepieces. What you need to then figure out is a counterweight design that won't add further complications to the balance. In other words, consider where you are going to place the counterweight on the OTA. All of this I've had to consider with my 8" Kulali scopes. While the COG of Kulali is still below the geometric centre, I can swap between a wee 6mm plossl and a 750g EP, and balance is not a problem. I only need a counterweight to help with heavier EPs or when using a coma corrector with the 750g EPs. No clamps or brakes or clutches, and the same smooth action all the time,
