What's weird is it's the lever itself that broke, not the shifter. Wcjp, I read your thread, and believed mine had broken as well, so I ordered one. Well, first I called the dealership, there are two shifters in the USA, one in MT, the other in TX, and neither of the dealerships would come off them due to backorder. The price was $567.00 and I would have paid, I needed the truck that much.
Next, I went to the local trans shop, they ordered a refurb from Denver for $175.00 plus overnight shipping, total: $197.00. I felt much better, but instead of a plow truck and two snow blowers, I was down to a Camry and one shovel. Made for a long day, so I didn't get around to taking the cup holder console 'till the next morning when the shifter came in. Really nicely done, and the thin orange silicone boot had been replaced with a thick black rubber one, I was feeling confident that the truck would be back on the road soonest. I was wrong.
Getting the cupholder out was a job in itself! The 8mm screw on the rear right wasn't turning so I got out the flashlight and had a look. I should mention that all I had was the tools in the truck, which was parked at a client's shop, but I carry lots of stuff, so it all worked out for the most part. all repairs were done from the drivers seat, engine running, so I had heat and satellite radio, it was between 8 and 10 degrees outside, so at least I was warm and entertained. Ok, back to the RT rear screw, I look in the hole which is just larger than a dime, and irony, having a giggle at my expense, decides to have not one, but four dimes that had to be fished out one at a time. It takes longer than you would think, but I finally got them out. Yes! Progress! Nope.
Put the socket down the hole, went to turn it, wouldn't grab...that's weird. out comes the flashlight again, the entire bottom of the hole is plugged with hardened gunk, so I start digging/carving with a phillips screwdriver, hoping I don't carve off the edges of the screw head. After an hour or so, I give up for the day. Too hard for a screwdriver, I drink black coffee, what did the previous owner drink, cement? As I said, all I had was the stuff in the truck, so I filled the bottom half of the hole with PB Blaster and went home for a beer or three, it was a stupid day.
Went back the next morning, started digging again, thought it was odd that the Blaster hadn't drained out through the screw hole at the bottom, but only the top layer of gunk had loosened, the hole was still plugged. I went back to digging out the crud, spent an entire hour before I could get the socket to bite, finally, I thought, success!
Ha! If you've read this far, you know what comes next. Cupholder is finally out, the piece behind it comes out, pull the boot up and over the lever to the knob, and wiggle it to see what's going on. Hmmm, I think, "Why is the lever moving around, but not the shifter?" As it turns out, I could have done the entire repair by just unclipping the boot and pulling it up to get to the two nuts that hold the lever to the shifter, All of this was for naught. I need a beer just thinking about it.
Went to the dealership, the only people that had one, I tried the bone yards and local trans shop but no luck. $74.00 later, I have a lever in my hand, the counter guy says the center plate with the shift pattern pries right out, I don't need a new knob. Of course, it didn't go quite that way, that plate is in there HARD! broke the tip off my favorite climbing knife, so I took to bashing the darn thing. Finally get it out, now I don't have a thin wall socket to get the nut out. By now the shop is open and the mechanic gets the knob off so I can slide the boot off the old and onto the new. The sharp edges of the knob were tearing the crap out of my hand, an O'reillys 8-ball knob is now on there, I guess I could have gone with the skull wearing a top hat, that one would be great for plowing.
I could go on, but I think you know the moral of the story, believe in Occam's razor, but at the same time, who the heck breaks a shift lever? And no, Chuck Norris has never driven the truck, although that would explain the cement in the cupholder.
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
