Ever since I've driven a stick, I've known that if you can't get into reverse, you slip the shifter to 2nd, and then reverse. I'm teaching my son to drive at the moment, and he asked why this works. Damned if I know.
It "sticks" because there's no synchros in reverse, to help line up the gears. Shifting to 2nd then reverse allows the transmission shafts to turn slightly in relation to each other(because there ARE synchros on 2nd), after which the reverse idler will more closely align with the gear.
-- Mike Harris Austin, TX
Mine, too. My son thought I was having a seizure in my arm. :-)
See this:
In Neutral, the gears inside the tranmsission are spinning. When you depress the clutch and attempt to select R, the spinning gears will grind, OR the non-synchronized gear faces (edges really) can strike each other and prevent the gears from meshing. If you select 2nd first, or even 1st, then select R, you are using the synchronizers on these gears to stop the transmission from spinning, and the gear edges for R will slip together easily.
Your Toyota truck uses non-synchromesh Reverse in the transmission. They (somebody) can make syncromeshed Reverse gear transmissions, but Toyota doesn't use them on trucks -- they might use them on some of the cars. (I have a BMW with that has fully synchro'd Reverse gears, I can shift into R while the car is moving, and there is no grinding at any time, and never a bind that requires the selection of another gear before going for R.)
You can teach your kid to start the car or truck in gear so the transmissiion gears are not spinning, then the selection of R will be a bit easier. Of course, starting a car in gear demands the clutch pedal be depressed.
Actually, this is his mom's Subaru, but the principle's the same.
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