Lets go back to your symptoms. 1, no gas after sitting. Check fuel pressure, turn key on and off a couple times, should be 30-40 psi. 2, idle a little off. Lets get this thing running properly first. 3, lifter noise and possible brg knock, check oil pressure with mechanical pressure gauge both at idle and while running.

 

if the cats went south then its running rich. the rotten egg smell and the rough running afterwards tells me the cats are probably bad. that being said cats dont just go bad.99% of the time when a cat goes bad theres an issue with the vehicle running rich. timing however wont make it run rich i dont believe so there is something else wrong. try pulling codes would be my first step

 

i went to a mechanic friend who has a shop and we ran codes and a few popped up. he pulled 2 sensors so of course they popped up but my speed sensor, fuel pump relay and another one as well... right now i don't have any exhaust after the cats because the muffler snapped off so could that be a possibility for the cats going out?

 

no. you can run vehicles without mufflers without hurting the cats.

 

ok... i decided to run premium instead of regular to see if it helps and it does... no knocking and it has only shut off twice in the past 3 days

 

Now that sounds like a clogged catalytic converter to me, it would also explain the hard starting and stalling.....

 

I still think its the timing.

 

the timing was at 15 degrees btdc when he checked it out. one of the pips wasn't in the sensor he said. should i just take my cats off to see how it runs? what would that do to my economy?

 

noone with any brains would recommend you take your cats off as thats a federal offense. even for troubleshooting.any decent muffler shop wll be able to test your cats. they will put a bung before and after your cats and hook a tool into it and read the difference in air flow. that is the "legal" way to do things and they will usually do it for free or charge very little


also if you are forced to run premium fuel in a stock truck somethign is still way out of whack

 

Where the hell have you been? That's what most of us do, as long as there aren't any inspections in your area.