also ... sometimes the clamps on different laprade years look the same, but are different enough to cause problems when accidentally interchanged.

when swapping saddles between two bikes, both with laprade seatposts, i mixed up the clamps and wasn't sure why the post wouldn't tilt correctly during installation. the clamp widths between the two were a mm or two different, just enough to be wholly ineffective.

if you think the clamp is not fitting together properly with the top of your post, you might get out a metal file and see if a little elbow grease can make fit more fluidly.