Check out this video, I thought the ridge on the pivot pin was supposed to be flush with the bushing, but that's not the case.
So that extra "bulb" on the urethane bushing takes up that empty space.
Was this column removed from same car?
Is the metal plate securely bolted to firewall, inside car?
If both are yes, it collasped
Should be able to easily slide the coupler by hand.
It seemed like a Ponzi scheme, I got multiple dashes that were complete junk.
I finally gave up and just accepted a crappy one.
The only thing that saved me was that I bought it through a group sale through Roseville, they stepped up and pushed the issue.
I feel sorry for the individuals that...
Bite the bullet and switch to bigger rims and tires now.
They're not cheap, so why do it twice?
I'd suggest 17 or 18", getting harder and more expensive to find the smaller diameters.
And it's only going to get worse going forward.
The weight of that arm is enough to keep it in place.
I drove my car for 20yrs without an issue.
Didn't like the look of that extra piece, so when I had the column out to install a Borg box, I cut off the arm and trimmed it flush. Looks much better.
But after that, a few times it must have...