Case closed...
I was looking too deep into it. I had a crack in some plug wires and I was getting spark jump to the exhaust manifold.[sm=bangbang.gif]
Head replacemnet was a success. THE TRUCK FINALLY RUNS GREAT!

[sm=gears.gif]

 

Cool, glad to hear you got it fixed. Nothing like getting frustrated on something simple as a wire.

 

auto doesn't make a differance. i have a 97 5 speed and it does the same thing.

 

Wow, a visit to an old post.

The problem turned out to be a warped head, which I hear is a somewhat common issue with trucks from this era. I replaced the head and everything was fine.