Steering shaft removal

Trying to get the steering shaft off my RRC to replace with a new one is rusty so I just hack it in half but still don't want to slide off I loosen both nuts but is in such a shity place that is hard to get a good grip , but the upper shaft close to the firewall when I pull the whole shaft from the inside comes with it , is this normal or I have something loose ? Any tricks on getting this thing off . thanks