Just purchased a 1994 Ranger 4 cylinder manual and the gear shift handle is loose.

The ball socket on the bottom has free play 1/2 inch up and down.

Is this spring mounted and my spring is broken? Or hydraulic? Is this a bushing?

It looks as someone has really tinkered with it and I'm not sure if a different shift handle has been put in or this is original and damaged.

Please advise...

 

Got it... see here

 

yep i did it too on my truck. watched that same video too.

if your shifter still bounces around when going over bumps and potholes your trans mount is probably shot too (mine was). It's actually not that hard to replace surprisingly, I did it laying under my truck with nothing more than a jack to push the trans up after unbolting the two nuts.