Ok just recently Ive noticed that after its warm and sits and idiols for a couple minutes when I hit the gas it blows white smoke out but then clears up. I know the usual suspect is a head gasket but ive been hearing it could be other things. I can work on most things myself so before going to a mechanic what should I do and look at to see if I can solve the problem. The truck has 175,000 miles on it and does use some oil normally.

 

Test for combustion gases in the coolant. You can get the kit/chemicals from your local parts store.