I have a brand new wicked wheel [anti-surge compressor wheel] for sale if you want to go in the direction. I had the same problem as you have with surge i went with the ats turbo housing and love it. No surge at all no matter what rpm and no matter what i am hauling.
To have ford replace my oilpan was $2200.00 just in labor not counting if any thing brakes while trying to pull the motor. Needless to say it hasn't been done.
Mine is doing the same when the chip is on any high hp setting. when i start the truck i just run it on stock setting until it is good and warm then i can run any setting with no problems.
I have a 2000 srw r-cab 6-speed and love it. The main thing i would check is the bottom of the oilpan. They are comman for rusting and leaking more so if you live in areas with heavey winter. (salt from the roads) Other than that i will never get rid of my truck.
Sorry to hear about your brother. When i installed my backup lights i ran the wire up into the tail light and spliced into the stock backup light wire.
I had the same problem with mine about 3 days ago, 2000 f-350 6-speed. The problem was the battery cables were lose. I cleaned all the conections and its been working fine, hope this helps.