I don't have any words of wisdom here, other than making sure that the movement of the shift lever will allow you to fully engage the gear at the shift arm on the trans in all gears without jamming the gear. Once you have it installed, engage each gear with the column shift lever, then crawl under and disengage the shift rod from the lever on the trans to see that you are engaging that particular gear fully. Taking the slop out of the system with new bushings, etc. will make the biggest difference and make the truck a pleasure to drive. Use new bushings and rods for the clutch linkage too and grease everything liberally.