@Dieslie212,
It's my understanding that these two tubes need to be separate so that the inner tube, which turns in shifting, must not be welded together. The outer tube with the slots in it is exactly that, the outer tube that all the upper parts attach to, i.e. lower column housing, upper column housing. I've had mine apart as well, although it's been a very long time, and yes there are tow soft plastic "shims" inside and yes, they do have to be kept aligned while putting the two tubes together. It's a pain but necessary in order for the "collapse" part to work. I might be wrong but I don't think you'll be able to shift if these two are welded together.
