Is the Front Shift Rod reinstalled from the front or from the rear
through the bushing hole in the cross member (with the bushing out, of
course)?  This is the shift rod that bolts to the bottom of the Gear
Shift Lever and has the plastic tabs on the fork.

I was able to remove this from the front to replace the plastic tabs but
it took some  modest force and it's not going to go back in that way.
I'm wondering if the end with the plastic tabs will go through the hole
for the bushing in the cross member?  Can this be done with the Vanagon
on jack stands or does it have to be on a lift?  I'm having difficulty
because the rear sway bar and the auxiliary air conditioning condenser
seem to be in the way of manipulating the forked end of the shift rod
through the bushing mounting hole.

This is a 1986 2WD with a 4-speed manual transmission.  I would like to
know how it fits in before I start taking off the parts mentioned above.

Any helpful comments will be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ed