ok so the above is not what was happining, all that I had read was that it was poping out of first not really saying when it was (only see the one saying when the trans is holding back?). Now if it were the opposite, where it is in first, you know it is fully engauged and as you add power it pops... slams out, it's the bearing.

This is why I gave examples of what to look for so pepole do not just assume that there kind of pop is the same as everyone else's pop. If I came in saying "its your main bearing replace that, thats what mine was." Then that is another story...

Mine made ZERO noise except for the clasic fith gear whine that it still has...

 

Thanks Rob, the info you posted helped a lot, total time was about fifteen minutes.

 

Sorry for the dead revival folks.

Recently replaced my seat & socket with Marlin parts. The OEM parts were both intact and looked fine when I pulled them, but I replaced them anyway. Still popping out of first. I don't know squat about transmissions, so any advice would be greatly appreciated.

92 xtra cab, 3vze

Symptoms:
-Pops out of first occasionally. Honestly haven't been driving it a ton since I got it running again, but I'd say it pops out a couple times per week on average.
-Sometimes won't shift into reverse when stopped unless I feather the clutch a little to get gears to mesh. Not sure if this is normal for these, or a sign of wear/damage. Not a big deal to me, but figure it could be indicative of something to someone smarter than I.
-Hardest manual tranny I've ever experienced in terms of downshifting at speed. I'm an avid engine brake kind of guy. Every vehicle I've ever had with a manual gearbox, I could shift from 5th to 2nd at 70mph if I wanted to (obviously not that I *would*). Most usually couldn't get into first going any faster than a few mph. This one, I struggle to push it into the next lower gear if that gear runs the same speed around 3k rpm or any higher. 1st is especially notorious for this, and I'll grind gears if I'm trying to get into 1st below 15mph frequently.

Most of these things are no big deal to me, stuff I consider quirks of the vehicle to get used to. But when it pops out of first, it SLAMS out of first, and it's really starting to piss me off, frankly. Again, I figure the rest may just support some diagnosis like fried synchros, which I'm not educated enough to make.

On top of the seat & socket, I just had her torn apart for a handful of engine work, and also replaced the clutch, flywheel, throwout and pilot bearings with Marlin parts, except the flywheel being a new one from Autozone.

Edit to add: I've been paying a little more attention to speeds. It takes a surprising amount of force to get into 1st even below 5mph. I have to be completely stopped for it to smoothly shift in. That seems wrong to me, as I have to force it into first to shift down. Even in parking lots, where I bog 2nd down, I have to jam it into first to get it in.

 

Make sure you are not resting your hand on the shifter while in first and inadvertently putting pressure on the shifter to pull it out of gear. I started having problems with popping out of first shortly after I bought my '94, and eventually realized I was resting the weight of my hand on the lever. Once I stopped doing that, I haven't had it pop out once in the last 4-5 years.

 

Definitely not the issue. It only pops out when my hand is not on it, so far there's been no exception to that, but I do appreciate the insight.