i think it is so that it keeps pressure on the 2 bushes,if you put the spring the other way round it doesnt do anything so whats the point of it being there atall,put the bush on the column then the spring on the bush with the small end of the spring against the bush,then when you put the outer column on make sure the groove in the outer column lines up with the raised part on the bush,then you just push the outer column down on the spring and tighten the 2 13mm nuts to secure it to the pedal box