Steering Shaft

I have a 74 CJ5 with power steering and the stock steering column. I recently replaced the 3" body lift that the PO installed with a 1" kit. My problem is now the steering shaft is rubbing the frame where the shock mount is (the PO hacked this off when doing the body lift). After searching the web it looks like the PO may have moved the steering column down a bit for clearance as the column sticks out about 4.5 inches from the bracket on the firewall. Is this correct? Will I run into any issues if I slide the steering column back up?