Great info thanks a bunch. I should've mentioned before but this is a month long work in progress as I have had school/work to deal with. I've already had to replace the power steering lines (pressure and return), pitman and idler arm, and a full tune-up. Trucks' been neglected (my own damn fault) a couple years but its getting much needed tlc.
Also I've noticed another problem, on 2 occasions while driving in the city the truck wanted to choke out on me. Never did die on me but just hesitated for 3 seconds before returning to normal. Crazy thing is the 1st time it happened on me was when I took a random turn, the 2nd time was when I shifted into drive after starting it and let it idle for 5 min. Both times everything electrical blanked out for a second then came back on. It idles good, no engine light, stock fuel pump was replaced <1000 miles ago and the alt. was replaced a couple days ago (bearing inside was going out).