Sometimes problems like this like this can be a good thing. Do this.
1) Clear your work bench an pull the shifter from the trans and pull it out of the truck.
2) Open a cool drink and start taking the shifter apart. If you have brain fart like me take pics along the way so you can get it back together. Take a sip of your cool drink.
3) Clean and inspect everything and Replace all nuts, bolts and washers with new. Even if they look good, you'd be surprised how much new hardware helps.
4) Install the new bushings you got a while back. It came with 6, use as many new ones as you can. Sip your cold drink.
5) Put shifter back together, take sip of cool drink.
6) Reinstall shifter onto transmission.
7) Depending on what cool drink you were sipping, test drive truck and enjoy the bliss of a well built HURST shifter.
DISCAIMER: This only my opinion and worth ever penny you paid me for it.