Truck Repair: Ford ranger Stick Shift sticky, shift forks, ford ranger

Question
My 2001 Ford Ranger is a manual transmission and when it started getting cold the stick takes all my weight to shift into 1st and Reverse please tell me how i can fix it.

Answer
Hi Kyle,
For starters..DO NOT put your full weight into the stick to get it into gear!! you will bend shift forks and damage the syncros for that gear. the syncro for these gears is probly worn and the oil is cold (thicker than usual) causeing the problem to be magnefied. when it won't go into gear take pressure off the stick and let the clutch up and depress it again then try putting it into gear. you may have to repeat this a couple times. if this works it will postpone having to have the first/reverse syncro replaced. you could try letting your truck warm up a bit before driving but i'm not sure how much heat will be generated in the transmission with no load on it.

Good luck,

Matt