After searching through the archives and several shop manuals, I think I've narrowed down the cause of my splitting hoses and high pressure in the coolant system on my 130,000 mile truck. From what I've read, it seems that small crack (or cracks) in the head or a leaky head gasket could allow a pressurized cylinder to force air into the coolant system. I've split three hoses in the past month, and also replaced the heater core. It also started idling rough for the first 15-20 seconds after startup-- but not all the time. The other thing that bothers me is that I haven't noticed much loss in power if any. Should this thing be a dog now with this type of leak, or is it just not that noticeable except for the high pressure in the coolant system?

I checked the thermostat on Saturday, and while it wasn't opening as fully as new one, it was still opening and keeping the engine at good temperature.

Barring any other probable causes for this problem, I'm going to pull the head off tomorrow night and inspect it and the head gasket. I'm making a list of things that I should do while I have it all apart, and suggestions are welcome to add to it. MInd you, I'm on a tight budget, so I'm not looking to really do any performance upgrades. Timing chain was done last summer, so that's okay. Here's my list:

-Replace all necessary gaskets (intake, exhaust, head, etc.)
-Thoroughly clean inside of intake manifold and throttle body
-Change fuel filter
-Have fuel injectors inspected and cleaned (also install new o-rings etc. for them)
-Use new head bolts? (EB said that I may or may not have to, depending on condition of the ones in there)
-Inspect head and block deck for flatness and any cracks

Also, I've read some info regarding possibly torquing the head bolts to a higher spec than stock upon re-assembly. Should I or shouldn't I?