Ok, I feel rather ridiculous asking this because I know the answer is simple and staring me right in the face. I am replacing the carpet in my 96 4.9L 5 speed because the cab smells of smoke from a PO and the carpet is just disgusting. Anyways, I need to remove the shifter boot to properly put in the new carpet but for the life of me I can't figure out how to get the boot off. I figured I would just remove the whole shifter but can't figure that one out either. So I am kind of dead in the water till I can get it off. Thanks.

 

I'm not sure on a '96, but on a '88 you lift up the accordion type boot at the corners and there is a screw in each corner, four screws obviously.

 

There is 4 screws but the top of the boot is attached to the shifter as well somehow. I think I see where the whole shifter assembly can be removed underneath the truck on top of the transmission but there has to be a simpler way to do it. ??????????

 

If you can pull the outside of the boot up enough after removing the 4 screws, there is a single bolt with threads on both ends near the bottom of the shift lever. Screw the nut off and put it on the threads on the other end and draw the bolt the other way. That will allow you to remove the shift lever. No need to crawl under the truck to do this.