Hi, I bought a hampton bay ceiling fan. It's not a ceiling mount, but that ball n socket type of hanging fan. Does anyone know how short the shaft can be while still allowing it to swing with the little bit of 'wobble' that it needs. Floor to ceiling is 7'9''. Thanks

I think 4 inches is the shortest downrod available and should give plenty of clearance as long as your ceiling isn't a really strange pitch. Although a good properly installed ceiling fan should not wobble.

I have have these type of fans in every room of my house and none of them wobble .it was my understanding that the ball in socket hangar simply allows the fan to hang level if your ceiling is pitched like mine are.

The last fan I bought had an option not to use the bar to get the shortest distance to the ceiling, so the bar isn't a necessity and depends on model and slope of ceiling.

Some fans can be mounted without the downrod. If it needs the downrod, you can use the shortest one you can find as long as there's enough clearance to mount the canopy.