Read a few more things...I'm pretty sure it's the shift lever seat and cap. There's aftermarket ones, including from Marlin (Heavy Duty Seats | Marlin Crawler, Inc.) for currently about $33 shipped, though it sounds like the Toyota Dealer should have stock ones in stock for less.

The Yotatech post (5speed pops out of gear HELP - YotaTech Forums) had some info, along with links to these guides (Toyota Tacoma Manual Transmission Pop Out of Gear? Here's the Simple Fix!: 4 Steps) (Shifter)

It's a 20 minute job. Just trying to keep all the info together.

(Edit: toyota part 33505-35020 for the shift seat, a smaller dealer (Carson City) didn't have it in stock, but Reno did. Both the same price at $14.83, but instead of making the 45 minute drive I got it for $13.71 off of Amazon, tomorrow. I already took it apart and cleaned up the green shredded pieces the best I could. The bushing I have looks fine, so I am just getting the OEM seat.)

The shift lever seat (green rubber) fixed it from popping out of gear. The end bushing (white) was in great shape, so I didn't do a thing with that part.

The gasket just before the cat was never right, at least since replacing the muffler and possibly before. A $3 part, and now the truck is amazingly quiet.

Replaced the O2 sensor. Between this and the gasket, it's quieter and even smoother. Hard to say if gas mileage changed much...I just went a month and a half on the last tank...270 miles. Short trips always are tough on the mileage.

The last 100 miles or so there's been a faint sound, like the brake indicators just starting. I went down to AutoZone today and picked up a pair of Duralast Ceramic Brake Pads MKD611. I've had some of the Duralast Gold's on the Sienna, and not only are they good, but AutoZone has a lifetime replacement on them...including for wear. So, you drive 35k or so, are happy with them but wear them out, and you just go back and buy another pair, returning the old ones once you do the installation. I swore I must have been talking to a newbie when the guy up-sold me on them 5 year ago or whatever, but when I was back in a store a few years later I brought it up. They do it. Strange for the case of brake pads, but most other parts have a much longer cycle.

Anyways, I bought the cheap ones today, and once back home (30 miles away) I went to replace them, and something wasn't right. First I didn't realize the pad sides (inner vs outer) weren't identical, so that's on me. But once right, it still wasn't. In the end, it turns out the pads extend past where they should, since the base is ~2" instead of 2 1/8" wide. So once you put the pin in, the pads are in the wrong place, extending onto the edge and beyond of the rotor. I called auto zone back, hoping this set was just in the wrong box, and the same number was painted on another set. When I make it down, I'll inspect the set, and maybe up to the Gold ones.

FWIW, Oreilys no longer has brake pads for my '92 4runner. I went ahead and bent the indicators just a little on both sides, and now there's no noise, so the brake pad indicators are the culprit. And in doing the 2nd side, I can do this pretty fast now and know what I need. I'll be one of those guys fixing my car in their parking lot, though for me it will be to make sure I get the right pads.

Nothing else at the moment. Timing belt is on hold until I have time, after the kids are back in school. I was about to do an oil change, but it's only been 4500M and 14 months since my last one. I use full synthetic these days, normally 0W-30, though it looks like I used high mileage 5W-30 last time. And I am finally getting a little paint oxidization above the windshield after not keeping up with the wax last year. The sun is tough on it here, and it's been parked outside 10+ years of our 12 up here in Tahoe. I just dropped the 70' pine I parked near, which means no more sap or risk of pine cones, but a little less sun protections to boot. If I have the time this fall I might need to explore some 2K clear coat. The new peelable rustoleum is tempting, but it says not to leave it on more than 3 months. I did always talk about having a white top for sun heat minimization, like the FJ's did. But in general my paint is in such great shape that it would be rough to change that permanently with white paint. The peelable might be good to test out, and possibly some salt/grit protection on the lower sections in the winter.

On to brake pad replacement, take 2.

EDIT: Always fun to see what Pick-n-pull has, even while looking for other vehicles. Between Reno/Sparks and Carson City, there were 15 2nd gens. For those that still had a control panel, the most mileage was 341k, with most in the 260-325k range. Tough to find any parts I need off of vehicles with so many more miles, but it's still fun to look when I head there every 6 months or so.

Oh, and in NV I could get classic car plates for it since it's 25+ years old (20+ for others), if I wanted. I think the DMV said there are 8 '92 4runners with them. For the initial plate cost plus $10/year, you get the plate and no longer have to do a smog test. For better or worse. It's an important thing, but even in CA you dropped off the testing at some point. But while we have plenty of regulations here in Tahoe, we don't have smog tests since it's so dispersed, not an urban area. Anyways, I might just have to get some classic plates for my old 4runner.