A mobile radiography system includes a wheeled transport frame and a telescoping vertical column mounted on the transport frame. The vertical column includes a stationary base section and a vertically movable upper section coupled to the base section. A cap is positioned in a nest at the top of the movable upper section whereby a counterweight in the movable upper section displaces the cap when the counterweight is extended through the nest and replaces the cap in the nest when the counterweight is retracted into the movable upper section. A padded section of the nest and the counterweight prevents impact noise when the cap contacts the nest or the counterweight. Magnets are used to hold the cap and the nest together in alignment when they are adjacent.
