Made it to Myrtle Beach, barely...

eluwak wrote:
We're going with the pump and filter, and praying that's it. We just put $2000 into the truck a month ago, so this hurts a bit. Looked at what the dealers had, but the only thing that would work even close to our price range is a Chevy WT K2500 with the 6.0. New Titan XD is actually pretty nice.

The dealer should be able to tell you pretty easily by putting a fuel pressure gauge on the fuel rail. You can look at pressure values with the key on (engine not running), engine at idle, and then in gear and under load. One way to load test is to set the parking break, hold your foot on the break, put the truck in gear, then give it gas. If you see any major fluctuations in fuel rail pressure then your issue very are most likely fuel delivery related. If the pressure stays steady through all of this you'll need to look at other possible causes.

I would do all work in 2 stages. First, change the fuel filter and test again. If the pressure is still wonky then proceed to changing the fuel pump.

I had a '97 Chevy with a 5.7L engine that ran just fine around town doing normal easy driving. One day my buddy was next to me at a stop light and we turned into teenagers. When the tree went green we both nailed the throttle. The only problem was he sped away and my truck poked along making a bogging, throaty sound without much giddyup. The next day I replaced the fuel filter and went for a 'heavy load' test. The engine performed perfectly and never once bogged.

Don't let the dealer talk you into a shotgun approach. Try to isolate the problem and replace only necessary parts rather than just replace everything and hope the problem is resolved.

KJ