Azimuth is easy , you just need a plastic milk bottle and cut a pile of washers about 50mm in diameter , they don't have to be perfect .
You then punch or cut a hole in about the center that the center bolt will fit .
Then undo the center bolt and lift the mount off the base board ( be careful here , do it on carpet as you don't want to damage the formica that's stuck to the bottom of the mount ) , you then place the plastic washers on the center bolt until they are about the same hight as the teflon ( nylon ) pads the mount slides on , nip the bolt and try again , if its still tight remove the mount again and add another washer , continue untill the center milk bottle washers have take a tiny bit of the weight off the teflon ( nylon ) outer slides .
Its a but of trial and error , good fun and the results are amazing , this is a good fix many use .
On the altitude , I have never had this problem , but some people screw small plastic cupboard rollers to the mount sides ( Bunnings at about $2 a pop ) , two at the bottom about 60 degrees either side of bottom center to take a tiny amount of weight off the teflon ( nylon ) sliders , others might have other ideas here .
A little car wax on the formica helps a lot as well , just put it on as you would you car .
Most of all enjoy the fix as all telescopes are works in progress and you 8 inch is a good one .
Brian.