little help please

The collapsible portion of the shaft is simply a 3/4" DD male section (top)....sliding into the 1" DD female section (bottom)

There are two plastic/ nylon collars holding the two tight.They are designed to break away upon impact.

On my mockup, I simply remove the plastic so make sliding the lower portion in /out for installing u joints, shaft, etc AND removing /replacing the entire lower half without touching anything inside the cars interior.

On my silver Duster, for final install.....I slightly press the lower 1" DD section to get as snug a fit (without the plastic) as possible.

Maybe someone remakes the plastic collars, but I really like the ease of being able to slip the lower portion in from the engine compartment

However, I agree with the inertia, doublecheck the nylon attached to the column bracket....often old, brittle and broken.