Get a small car tranny cooler - I think the one I got was a Hayden, it works great. And it was not too pricey if I recall (been a while). Just like you, I also had the whining noises, and like has been said, it must have been air in the lines because it went away after driving a while. I noticed that the steering effort was greater after switching to the 2WD box as well, glad I'm not the only one (thought I was nuts!). /forums/images/icons/smile.gif I also just did the West Texas Off Road hydro assist setup, and the steering effort is back to one finger. The truck steers a little oddly, but nothing that can't be gotten used to. It tends to wander in long turns and has a tendency to kind of sway back and forth if you make small steering inputs - anyone else have this issue? It's hard to describe, but the steering wheel stays motionless while the frontend kind of "shimmys" back and forth a few times. It's weird, but not dangerous or anything.
Also, I just got rid of the death wobble after replacing my frame shackle bushings. I had installed the hydro setup, took it for a drive, and damn, I still had the death wobble, although it had been reduced to more like a "mini death wobble" condition. My frame bushings were totally falling apart (sent them back to Steve Watson again), so I replaced them from my bag of extras (I'm having issues with the Daystar bushings) and the wobble is all gone. Just thought I'd share that again...