Sloppy Shifting Muncie?

[Joe Z]

Sorry if the question has been answered before but I can't seem to find a thread on it. I have a 81' c10 with a factory Muncie wide ratio. I've been running it as is for five years now but while I have the truck apart I want to tinker with it. Every gear works fine but if you don't know where to smack the shifter (and I mean smack) it can be a pain to get into gear and you can forget about downshifting to 2nd if you don't take your time and know "the procedure". Was curious if it could be worn out bushings, need to be greased, or if I'd have to get a whole new linkage and if so what would be the best replacement for heavy use? This is a work truck. Thanks for any advice.