This morning when I went for a drive I could barely shift my truck into 4th gear, and was difficult to get into any other gear. I took my shifter out and found the top part of the spring broken and sitting where the shifter stub rides.

Am I risking damaging the shift forks by having less pre-load on the shifter? I have everything back together and it shifts great.

 

I would get a new one, the spring keeps the shifter seated, otherwise it'll drop. Might be enough pressure where you don't notice it though. Ace Hardware has those springs, 2$.

 

I've driven it about 100kms so far and it shifts better than it did before it broke off. Unless it has been broken for a while and I only just noticed it. The shift cover has to come off the replace the spring right? It looked too wide to be able to squeeze out the top.

 

The pivot pins are threaded and have screwdriver slots in them. That should do the trick.