well been lurking here for a couple weeks now. my 96 runner needs a new headgasket and while I am in there I figured I might as well fix all the problems it was having. so far my lis is the head gasked and the clutch squaks so I found a link here that show a bushing that needs replacement. I also saw something about a tension bushing on the shifter. but my runner has a very hard time shifting into 5th gear. has anybody else had this and know what was causing it. I thought it was the syncro's but I won't really know for sure until I dig into it. I hope I don't have to take apart the tranny as well.

also should I go with oem head gasket or after market? after all it was oem that has blown twice now.

thanks for any info