the interlocking flange of upper and lower steering column near the floor is
what i am concerned about. i know it provides for a lot of overlap, but i
lost quite a bit of that i think. it still just interlocks fully (maybe
1/16th short of a full interlock) but theoretically it could protrude 1/2
inch more as overlap. so in my case the two bolts of the upper column just
do not come out of  the lower  column  thing  they  go   in. they rather
have half an inch above it that does not go in. the aftermarket steering
wheel was hard to install in so far as you had to push the column together
to compress the addtl spring while fastening the cast aluminum block of the
steering lock.
so my question is do you guys think the interlock is enough or can road
movements pull the steering column apart? and how far in is the upper/lower
column typically?

thanks a lot, and especially thank you john for explaining me why that
spring is there...

florian