I use my Hudy 1/8 (with 17mm adaptors) for set up. I then take the measurement of the gap between ball ends on the turnbuckle with calipers and adjust (if necessary) between runs.
I don’t agree measurements change “just by running” I’ve hand plenty of get offs and clean runs to check and they stayed solid. If people are running into problems with measurements changing then they should replace the ball ends.