2004 Ford Explorer Gear is geting hard to shift out of park

where are you parking every morning? does it clunk out of park or the lever is just hard to move or when you put it out it thuds into reverse?

I park in the driveway, full sun, level ground. It is just hard to maneuver the shifter out of park. Sometimes I have to pull so hard it feels like I am going to break off the handle. The gears themselves sound fine, no harsh bumps or loud noises. I think the problem is in the handle going into the steering column itself - but not sure. Hoping this is not the early signs of a big transmission problem. The lever itself is hard to move.

updated 4/24/09
My car was getting hard to shift out of park.......All I had to do was start applying the emergency brake and that took care of the problem. Thanks for your help.

have someone rock the car when trying to shift it out of park does it come out easier? try using graphite lock lube and spraying the parts of the shifter inside, and grease up the linkage under the vehicle with grease and work it a bit.

anything better?