The "vac before scrubbing" thing is actually what most of us were taught, so you're not crazy for running it that way. But I gotta push back on switching to brush first, because dry soot falls down the flue and just piles up at the base where your vac hose can't reach, and now you're breathing all that dust while you scrub. Vac first knocks down the loose stuff so the brush doesn't send it flying, then you hit it with the brush and do a second pass if you need to.

South Congress spots are the worst for this, I once sat facing a window for two hours and basically typed blind, my code was 90% typos by the end. Now I do a quick glare check before ordering, just tilt my screen toward the light and see how bad it gets. Shade hunting two blocks away is just part of the job I guess.

Sort of depends on the truck honestly. My door sticker says 32 front and 35 rear and I've run that for years with no weird wear, so following the sticker is not always some big fix. 28 on the rears sounds low for hauling a load of firewood unless the tires are way bigger than stock or the truck is super light in the back. Load range matters too, a E rated tire is built for way more than what a door sticker on a half ton calls for. Not saying your guy is wrong, but the sticker is a starting point for the factory tires, not gospel for whatever you bolted on after.