percusski wrote:
well not necessarily as the ground is there to stop anything moving downwards, it's only if one is lifting the pedal off the ground, repositioning for example!
Looking at it more closely: the tripod leg assembly (including the upper and lower plastic bushings and the threaded brass spring tensioner) have nothing to do with the connection of the shaft to the base. Once you remove the base, all that assembly should slide off the central tube, although the threaded brass piece is locked in position or it would be useless as an adjuster.
The footboard pivots, but only in relation to the tripod assembly. It should not pivot in relation to the central tube. It is either a press fit, or else the bass and the central tube are threaded. Have you tried spinning the central tube clockwise (typical right hand thread) in relation to the base to see if it might perhaps tighten up? It is difficult to imagine a press fit, even one that has come lose, being so sloppy that it would spin as easily as yours seems to.