steering connection problem

Well I was thinking more that the rubber sleeve and all, had been sucked up out of it's socket, by an incorrect parts association,and that pulled the entire shaft up, and then the bottom was too short. That's what I was thinking.
Well it was about 3/4 of an inch short so I pulled it back out which took some tapping with a hammer to get it to move and then put everything back in and test drove it double checking afterwards to see that
it was still centered in the culling, all looked good so I drove it again today about 40 miles and everything was staying in place fine so since it is only a weekend driver I am going to run with it for the time being.
Thanks for all the input I appreciate it.