Man, I read this, and I thought I even replied on it. But it was probably late at night or the internet connection on the road sucked, or if I was home Sassy the cat probably decided that her attention was much more important than any uber cool diesel truck...
Glow plugs. Replace them. The couple of cylinders thing sure sounds just like it to me. You've got a stock truck, and unless it's been kerjiggered with, you should be able to get parts really easily to keep it stock from the dealer. (yes, kerjiggered is a technical term--it is usually invoked by finding a wire nut on your truck). Failing that, the 10.5V glow plugs are the ones you hook up to a wilson switch on a 12V truck.
You said boost gauge and oil pressure? Skip the oil pressure, you NEED a pyrometer. Seriously, if I only had one aftermarket gauge, that's what it would be (funny that, I do only have one aftermarket in the faux lux, and that's what it is).
And the flower lover is right: ditch the bed and build a flat bed (or trayback, if you will). I'm sure that bed is heavy, and flat beds are simply awesome.
Last suggestion: 2.5" exhaust, with a straight through muffler. Getting those hot gasses away from the motor is a great idea, plus turbo whine is the best thing since the light-brite.
Dan
