man you are one level headed cat to be able to put up with all this and still stay so upbeat.. half of my post would have been $#(@@( ing by now haha..

im not really sure what the problem with the sucking noise could be.. but I just recently started getting a similar sound at idle and while starting off, sounds like theres another giant fan somewhere when i first start the truck and first start to get going, once i get over about 3k rpms i either dont hear it or it goes away.. but usually when i get to a light or stop sign the sound is gone... and i definitely am not feeling a loss in power.. hehe

anyway i started getting that sound after coverting to mobil1 in the oil and putting 1 bottle of seafoam into the gas tank, 1/2 bottle into the oil the crankcase (oil has been changed since and still have the sound) and 1/2 bottle dripped into the intake through the hose coming out of the block about 2-3 inches back on the passenger side.. so i guess what im saying is check those types of areas for a possible cause of the noise