1952-59 Ford 55 vs 56 steering shaft length

I am installing a Borgerson box in a 55 Meteor. I found a thread on another forum regarding the installation in a 56 and this fellow posted the length he cut the 56 shaft, but not the length he started with. If I knew the difference, I could do the math and probably save myself some grief.
Also, I have installed the Aerostar springs in the car, but not new shocks yet. I notice through a search that there are two different numbered KYB shocks mentioned. What is the difference?
Thanks for your help

 

With the Aerostar springs use the KG 5514's the others are for stock height.

 

The '56 shaft is slightly shorter than '55 shaft as '56 was the first dished steering wheel in American Fords,if your Meteor's stock steering wheel is flat it would have the longer shaft so measure 3 times cut once.

 

Yes, the Meteor has a flat steering wheel. Thanks for the info.