Grinding when downshifting to first gear

My son bought a 98 S-10 2wd with a five speed manual trans. 110,000 miles. It was supposed to have had a new clutch installed not long before he got it.

The biggest problem I can find with the truck is that you cannot downshift into first with the truck moving, It just grinds. It seems to shift okay in the other gears, just a little loose. I searched the forum but wasn't able to find anything related to this problem. May not have done it right though.

The previous owner advised that it started to do that after the clutch was replaced. He's in the AF and has now transferred all the way across the country. We have no way to contact him to find out who installed the clutch or get other information.

I first thought it might be a synchronizer but now I've noticed that all external lines, fuel lines etc, that are secured to the transmission case weren't put back in place. Some other things like that make me think whoever replaced the clutch did a sloppy job overall.

I would appreciate any thoughts on this. It's a good truck otherwise. Thanks in advance.

Will it go into low and reverse sitting still with grinding?
Does the clutch pedal have close to a full pedal?

The clutch does have full pedal and engages right at the end of its travel. There's about 1/4 inch of freeplay. It has plenty of fluid and I can't find any leaks. The only gear that grinds is first. The truck has to be stopped in order to shift down into first sort of like the old trucks that were not synchronized.

Will it go into low and reverse sitting still with grinding?

Yes, it will shift into both first and reverse sitting still. No grinding as long as it's not moving. Actually it will go into first moving at about 1 to 2 mph. No grinding at that speed but you can feel the gears trying to mesh.

You have a bad low gear Synscinizeror or a transmission problem.
MT

Thanks MT. I've suspected that but had hoped for a problem that would be a little less expensive. Transmission work is way beyond my skill level!