Toyota Repair: Transmission squela & falls out of 1st gear, clutch plate, clutch assembly

Question
1990 toyota p/u 3.0 V6 4x4 5speed manual 238,000 miles
The tranny has been dropping out of first gear for a while now. I have gotten used to making sure its fully engaged before taking off. when shifting into first it catches 2 times if i get the second catch it doesn't drop out. The shifter is real sloppy and i was reading the forum about the shifter tower bushings, but my cousin seems to think it might be the catch ring inside the trans. Rescently it has developed a squeal only at idle and only with the clutch depressed. It squeals if it is in gear or in nuetral. My cousin thinks it might be the (return bushing)? It also needs a new clutch plate as i think it only has about 10% life left.  Would it be a better idea to purchase a new transmission?

Answer
I think this can be fixed without replacing the transmission, first remove the shifter and replace both the bushings, the noise is probably related to the clutch release bearing which should be replaced along with the clutch assembly, if replacing the shifter bushings doesn't help the shifting issue then it's probably an internal transmission problem but from what you have told me so far it sounds like the bushings are the problem, it's worth a try before replacing the transmission.