Took the truck to local muffler shop for a 2nd opinion, and the 2 manifold bolts on the passenger side rear are busted..heads popped right off both of them! Thankfully, they still stuck out enough to get a pair of pliers on them and coax them out. Replaced gasket, bolted everything back on, and took it for a test drive. Still bucks under heavier acceleration and merging onto hiway, but sounds better at idle now. Next step is to take off TB, clean out completely, and see WTF is going on in there. After that, I'm pretty much out of ideas. Will keep everyone posted.....thanks for the support and suggestions guys, keep 'em coming!

 

My first thought when you wrote your inquiry, was that it was a misfire. Now, you've replaced your plugs but did you replace the wires? It's possible that they are arching off of something... the other thing that i was thinking was possibly a timing chain. just some food for thought.

 

I took off the TB and scrubbed out the gunk with some brake cleaner and a toothbrush. Wasn't too bad, but now it sparkles and shines. Put it back on and decided to take a look at the IAT while I was there. Downwind side (towards TB) was a beautiful shade of blue... upwind side was black and crud covered. Sprayed brake cleaner on that, made it sparkle too, and re-installed everything. Got a CEL code right away, for IAT sensor. Apparently it was going bad and not able to read higher airflows at WOT. Cleaning it off with brake cleaner was NOT the right thing to do (use MAF spray next time, D'OH!). Anyways, got a new IAT sensor and installing it tonight. Auto Value guy says should solve the problem. Here's hoping!

 

Truck finally died on me couple days ago, so I talked to a buddy of mine I hadn't seen in a while. Turns out his 2003 Ram 2500 Hemi had done almost the exact same thing as mine a few months ago. He was told it was his fuel pump, so he bought a brand new one, and when he went to replace it he found out the electrical connection to his fuel pump was corroded through and barely hanging on. He replaced the plug, and voila...fixed.

So he had a brand new fuel pump, and gave it to me to try out. I dropped my tank (thanks ewing and weedahoe for the link and info guys! ), put in the new pump (and a new battery), and ....nothing. Wouldn't turn over until I rolled the *** end off the ramps I'd been using, and then she roared to life! Took her for a spin around my subdivision, had no weird noises, no hissing from the gas tank area (thought it might be an evap leak), and no drama, just . Gotta take her out on the hiway tomorrow to make sure all is 100%, but things are sure looking good right now!

So now you know if your truck starts bucking and farting under acceleration like mine did, what steps to take to get you back on the road. Many thanks to all who gave suggestions. I can honestly say I learned alot about my truck over the past few weeks, and did a bunch of maintenance that should keep me on the road for quite awhile now. Just need to flush the front diff and transfer case, and I'm good to go. And finish building that CAI I started. And get some Pacesetter LT headers. And a true dual exhaust setup. And superchip. And....

You know, I liked my truck just the way it was until I started reading all the mods you buggers are doing to your trucks. You might have created a monster!