First of all I want to thank you all for the suggestions. There are some good ones. I have no way to get in the fuselage to brace the rod without major surgery. Here is the transition based on Gremlin Castle's suggestion in person. The steel rod area is filled with heat shrink and one layer goes over the ball joint fitting tail end. The final red heat shrink goes over the dowel and over the fitting. I think this will sufficiently dampen the high frequency vibration. I'll do the other side the same way.

The pull out probably was at 6' but I was so puckered up at the time that I wasn't judging height above the hard deck effectively.

Ken