First I must thank all of you who helped me get stared with replacing tailgate hinges, and telling me about LMC and their catalog. Thank you!
My next little problem is when I drive the truck long enough to get it up to temperature...and stop somewhere - like Lowes - the starter feels/sounds like it wants to crank, but won't.
My gut feeling is that the exhaust pipes are overheating the starter because after an hour it turns over nice and quick.
I got underneath to see if there WAS a heat deflector, but it doesn't as if there ever was one. OR is the starter starting to poop out on me? Just not strong enough anymore.....

 

what engine do you have? i have an i6 300, and its never had a shield, its possible you have a grounding issue thats putting some amperage through the starter heating it up,

 

Just get a new starter. Sounds likd the old one is done.

 

I replaced the starter in my '86 last year and before it went out it started to slow down when cranking. It would turn the engine over once about every second or two, sometimes slower. When the starter finally went out it started my truck then didn't disengage and burned itself out. I would suggest replacing the starter or the starter solenoid, I had to replace them both at the same time when mine went out.

 

i had the same problems with my truck too, finally replaced all the battery cables too, if they are cracked at all then they will be corroded which will cause the same problems over and over again, i went through 3 solenoids and 2 starters before i found out my cables were shot

 

You guys are Great Help !!!
My cables are new and in good shape with no corrosion. And the solenoid looks original. I'm gonna go ahead and replace the starter AND solenoid this weekend. Don't want problems now that it's so freakin' cold.
Thanks again !!!