Toyota Repair: 1994 Toyota 6 cyl. pick-up transmission issues, flat roads, toyota pickup

Question
Ted,  I have a 1994 6 cyl. toyota pickup.  A few weeks ago, I drove it pretty
hard over the Sierra's, and when I got back home, it was idling around 2500
rpms.  I let it rest for a while and it continued to do it.  A couple days later it
was back to a normal idle.  Is this the beginning of something to worry about?

 Its also been popping out of first gear on occasion and seemed to lack
power.   Today, I was taking it up a very steep street and lost power in first
gear, had to turn around and go back down the street.  I had to really rev it
up to get it turned around and it smelled like I burnt something up.  It was ok
driving home on flat roads, but I haven't tried to pull a hill since.  Does this
mean the transmission is going out?  how should a poor college student fix
this problem?

thanks
-ben

Answer
The high sierras are my favorite place to visit, I live in so cal so I go there a lot, anyway it sounds like there is a problem with the clutch it seems to be slipping so it will need to be replaced. The transmission has to be removed to do this. Most popping out of gear issues are caused by worn shifter bushings located in the top of the transmission where the shifter goes in, this can be taken care of with the transmission removed.