LX470 Steering Shaft Question

Just have a question on the steering shaft on this Lexus. I’m putting in a rack and pinion and I had trouble getting the shaft to collapse to get it apart. Vehicle is from a north eastern state where there’s a lot of rust. Is the shaft in the picture the one that compresses or slides like a slip shaft? Service manual tells me to remove the steering column but I found a couple of videos indicating that they did not remove the steering column just locked it in place. I was able to get it apart but I cannot get the shaft extended back out to fit fully on both ends. I’m short about 3/4 of an inch for it to properly fit. Thanks in advance for your help.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20211202/0dd998c98553b8edb751bd3fd883b094.jpg


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Just an update, this is not a collapsible shaft. I found out there was a snap ring on the lower part of the upper shaft that had got out of position and was not letting the collar slide on because it pushed the upper shaft away. All fixed now.