I can email you the instructions for doing a timing job which clearly states to do this in there. If they are not loose, When you tighten your tensioner it takes the slack out of only the side the tensioner is on. There could be slack between your cam sprockets and on the other side. If your way worked for you, good. This is the correct way.
With the VCT it is very important that you get the timing correct or you will get a check engine light with the PO1381 or PO1383 code.
