Sliding out of gear!!??

I have a 98 taco, 2.4l manual, with almost 100k on it, for some reason it slides out of 1st,3rd, and sometimes 5th gear. Its really bad when the car is cold for some reason it wont stay in first or third at all 5th usually isn't bad but every once in awhile it falls out. I do have a 3in. body lift along with my suspension lift, but i dont think that is really affecting it. Anyone else have this problem, any input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Taylor

 

Is it hard to put in gear ? Does it "grind the gears" when you try to go from one gear to another? Sounds like maybe a Synchromesh issue, need a little more info if possible.....

 

No problem putting it in gear it just wont stay in gear for some reason... No grinding... I feels like something is stopping those gears from completely locking in but i have taken off the shifter cover and it seems that the body lift is not affecting it so i am not sure what the problem is.

 

This sounds similar to a typical issue with the older pickup (pre-Tacoma) I had:

On my old 93, there was a urethane or rubber ball at the base of the stickshift that disintegrates after about 100k miles. It screws up the fulcrum angle on the stick, and when you shiftm the stick just mushes back rather than properly engaging the gear. Mine would just "fall out" of 3rd gear. I don't know if this is the same for your truck, but if so, this is about a $14 part and an easy 1/2 hour job from inside the cab. I know ther must be writeups for it, maybe on Yotatech.

I just bought a used 2001 Tacoma, so i am new to the truck, but my guess is that they are the same or similar up until 2nd gen.

 

my '01 started doing that about two years ago, it did it almost every time I went through the gears for a few days, but it got better and better over the next few months.
It probably happened only once or twice last year. I'm all stock by the way.

 

shifter ball bushing.. or bad synchros.

 

mine does that with 4wd on bumpy roads occasionally :/

stick lever ftw though

 

Thanks this sounds right ill definitely give it a try... thanks for everyones input ill let you know how it goes