all sorts of problems

[Rooster's82]

So I just got back from a short trip down the coast. Great weekend full of sun sand and beer. Anyway I took my truck with my two motorcycles loaded in the bed. Right before I left I had the timing checked and adjusted (yes, I broke down and paid a shop to do it, I wanted it done before I left and I wasn't going to get to it). The guy at the shop said the timing was set pretty good and only needed a minor tweak, I guess I’m sitting at 6 degrees at idle. So I leave the shop and my truck is running great! I’m happy, I load the bike and off I go. About 15 minutes down the highway, the truck starts pinging and running hot about 220. I kept driving trying to keep it out of the RPM range where the pinging occurs (which is during mild acceleration....cruzing and full there is no ping). Whenever it pings the temp skyrockets, and when I keep it from pinging the temp would level off at about 200. Also when I would stop at lights my engine temp would slowly creep up. I made it to the beach and the truck pretty much sat for the weekend...seeing how I had no tools or anything. During the drive back pretty much the same thing happens...only much much less. The RPM range where pinging occurred was narrower and I wasn't hitting as high of temps, but the same issue was present.

So my diagnosis is that I have a ton of carbon build up which is heating up and glowing causing pre-ignition. The fact that I am overheating at stoplights would lead me to believe my radiator is clogged or something.

How do I deal with carbon build up (if that is the culprit?)? I have run a ton of fuel system cleaner (gas additive type) and it clearly hasn't done anything.

How well do radiator cleaners work? Could that solve the overheating issue at idle? I have an electric fan so I don't think it has to do with the air flow. I didn't have a thermostat in either how does that affect the cooling properties of the system? (I just put a 180 degree one in yesterday.)

Oh, and finally...I have put two new starters in my GF's car (92 corolla) and both of them needed to be knocked on within a month of install...any ideas on what is going wrong?

Also, I'm getting a bunch of vibration at about 60mph...i have had the tires balanced twice...and it is still happening. There is no pull and no uneven tire wear that i can see. What else could be causing the vibration?

Holy crap this turned out to be a novel...Sorry.