Thanks for all the responses!
The truck has about 115,000 miles on it. When I bought it a year ago there were about 95,000. It appeared to have been recently revitalized after sitting for quite some time.
I live a few miles west of Detroit. Not that many people know it but Southwest Detroit sits atop a huge salt mine. In winter it's slung on the roads in excess. So yes, in a way I do live in a salty environment. Perhaps one of the worst.
I am not sure about the recall status on the tires but I will check that ASAP. My inflation is good.
Yes, I did mean sway bar bushings when I said stabilizer bushings. There is some cracking on them but nothing I would have expected would cause the kind of drivability issues I'm having. I am not sure what "pan hard rods" bushings are. As far as the front end I am not too sure about the ball joints. They are original and have no zirc fittings so they may need changing. Aside from that the front end looks good. There is no cupped wear on any of the tires.
I will start by reinspecting all my bushings, especially the control arm bushings, more carefully and replacing any that are the least bit suspect. That is after checking on the tire recall.
By the way, my clutch pedal is very spongy near the top of it's travel. It seems to disengage well and I get a good response when it grabs, never any slipping, noise, smell or anything. It makes sense that it's wearing out but somehow it "feels" like the clutch is okay and the problem lies elsewhere; like in one of the cyliders or perhaps a worn or bent shift fork. Somebody told me it acted like it was the slave cylinder. That seems unlikly but I thought I'd ask.
Thank You,
John