Steering shaft wobbles
 

I have searched this forum for any similar types of problems to no avail.

There is a pivoting collar midway down the steering shaft under the dash that has a teflon sleeve inside that is wedged tightly inside the collar to hold the shaft and keep it from wobbling. Mine has had the teflon sleeve come part way out and when you turn the steering wheel, it moves up and down. I crawled underneath and worked it back in as well as I could and it worked for about a year. Then, for some reason, the steering shaft started to rub on the outside edge of the firewall when turning left. I was able to put a couple of washers on top of the pivoting collar where it attaches to the frame which moved the column down and away from the forewall, but at an autocross on Sunday, the teflon collar popped out and the wobble returned. I checked Mazda motorsports and their catalog only shows the whole shaft being replaceable, not just the pivot.

I am thinking that I can drop the steering shaft down and get a better angle at the sleeve and collar and then maybe wrapping a screw clamp around the column to hold the teflon sleeve inside the collar.

Any ideas or previous experience?

TIA