Number 1, the rubber boot can and will expand over the shifter without tearing, and 2, you could have unscrewed the bolts without taking the boot off. I have doen this many times with the Suzuki Samurai/Jimny.
@@zero187420 I have 35s on the Samurai Larry if you must ask silly questions sometimes on the trail it becomes necessary to shift from 2 to 1 my old F250 shifts fine from 2 to 1 while rolling.
As you go into neutral...blip the throttle and put a little tension on the shift lever towards first gear...as the revs drop the gears will synchronize and it will drop into first.