Shorter can be done. Measure the thread on the tube, take a die and cut the threads farther down to the level you want. After that measure how much the rod pokes out of the end of the tube. Remove the rod, cut the tube end off and make the rod end poke out the same amount it did before. You will need to round off the rod to make it look like it did before. Say you want it 2" shorter, thread it down +2" more and cut 2" off the tube and rod