Replaced 96 power antenna mast, but mast is loose

Folks;

My old antenna mast got bent, I bought a replacement and replaced it,
but the mast is loose and I'm sure it wasn't this loose before.

I replaced the top plug and plastic rings, but the bottom of the mast
doesn't seem to seat on anything in the tube. There was a sleeve on the
old mast at the bottom. I didn't replace that on the new antenna as it
was slightly bent up during removal of the old mast. I had to cut the
old mast to get the plastic plug off, as it would not go down past the
sleeve and would not go up past the bent part of the mast.

It seems to me the problem is at the bottom of the mast and not the
top, which seems tight. Did that little sleeve have some catch on it or
do I just need to somehow force the mast down a little bit more to
engage on something at the bottom?

Kent
driver of Hermes, 1996 M edition