well to pry the rubber boot out, you can do that with the truck on the ground, but to make sure you adjust the parking shoes correctly you do need the back wheels in the air with the front wheels chocked and blocked and tranny in neutral.
Getting that plug out is a small PITA, I think it just has to do with the size and shape of it (unlike the rubber grommets that hold all the manual 4x4 shifter linkages in place, those things will just pop out all the time lol )

 

I'm not sure I can weigh in much on your brake issue, but I think your 0-60 times are pretty respectable. You don't mention the use of any serious power adders and remember that even with a little extra gear in your truck like a fire extinguisher or tools or a battery boost box your truck can weigh nearly 10,000 pounds. With a nearly stock motor you're only pushing around 250-270 horsepower. With a lifted street truck with that much weight and that much power, you're doing pretty well. The closest to those times I've ever gotten in my 5.9L 4x4 Quad Cab is 0-60 in 11.5. Not sure what rear gears I have, but you have obviously been able to get better times. Stickier rear rubber would definitely help as well as some type of anti-wheel hop suspension like a four bar or triangulated three link. A rear locker in the diff would help too, even a limited slip like a Eaton Detroit locker. If you're really serious, dump some weight too. Take off the spare, lose the jack and any extra gear you're lugging around. Swap gears for some 4.10s or 4.88s, just bear in mind your gas mileage is going to tumble with those taller rear gears.

 

I see what your saying, but the stock times for my truck should be in the 9's.

If i had a dead cylinder, or bad compression would there be a CEL? Or a code?

 

So my parking brake is fine, the tires spin fine. The person helping didnt know not to press the brake pedal while I was trying to spin them. though I was testing the brakes, lol.

ANy other Ideas? PCV or EGR valves?

 

Whats the easiest cheapest way to do a compression check?

 

um.. with a compression tester. It's basically a hose that plugs into your spark plug hole and has a meter on it. You unhook your main ignition wire and crank the engine over a few times and take a reading. It stores the highest compression of your cranking. You should do it on a hot engine and then compare all cylinders. They should be within 3-5% of one another.
A compression tester will tell you only that your losing compression and won't pinpoint where from. rings?valves?
A leakdown tester is what you would want to do next once you found a low cylinder. It'll tell you exactly where your loss is at. A leakdown tester has 2 guages, one for constant pressurizing(air compressor) and one for loss.
I bought a compression tester and leakdown tester from Harbor freight. $9.95 & $14.95 respectively.
Autozone might rent them? If not, they certainly sell them.

*Ohh, and on a V8 where it takes time to do the checks. Your best bet is to do one side and then re-heat the engine and then do the otherside, or else your readings will keep going down.

 

Those are kinda sad times. My 4x2 with 31.6" tires and 3.55s manages mid-sevens for 0-60.

A dose of Sea Foam may help a bit. How many miles on the plugs? The dragging brake can't be a good thing for many reasons.

 

Well yours is a 2 wheel drive. But I dont know if the previous owner changed the plugs at 30k. It has 52 now., no dragging brake.

 

You say the truck is a Laramie, and that means it should have come on 20s. You now have 18s, so is the speedo adjusted properly? If not all the acceleration data is meaningless.