I need help diagnosing a problem

[*MJF*]

I want to get my truck running better for a trip I'm taking in a few days.

It idles rough. It stutters & backfires at highway speeds & during mid to hard acceleration. I thought it was the carb or it was starving for fuel, but now I'm laening more towards timing/vacuum advance.

Here's a link to another post that explains the problem better: http://www.norcalbigdawgs.net/phpBB2...pic.php?t=2161

Please make some suggestions that I can look into to try to fix this thing. I am going to have my alternator checked out when I get home from work. If that checks out, I will rig up something to make a good ground from the frame to the block. If that doesn't fix it, I am going to just replace everything in the distributor that I can get to, but the parts for that are over $100. I don't want to spend $100, if it's not the problem.