WTF

There should be NO NEED for a trickle charger unless your truck is sitting for months. That is the point here...either the battery has an issue or something else has an issue. If these trucks needed a trickle charger there would be threads all over the place and group buys for either battery shut-off switches or trickle chargers.

A trickle charge will, yes, help the OP out (if he has access to a plug) in this situation. BUT, that will only treat the symptom, not the root cause.

 

I'll see myself out. But I'll be back with an update when it dies.

 

Solar charger/maintainer?

SUNER POWER 12V Solar Car Battery Charger & Maintainer, 2.4W Waterproof Solar Trickle Charger, Portable Solar Charger, High Efficiency Solar Panel Kit for Deep Cycle Marine RV Trailer Boat

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07G5F9TGV?SubscriptionId=AKIAJO7E5OLQ67NVPFZA

 

I drove it around town last night for an hour. This morning I washed the beast then threw a battery charger on it.
It read a pull of 7 to 8 amps, which is a lot.
I'm leaving the charger on it all day. That should top it off for tomorrow's trek to LA.
If it dies again, I get to exercise my new SA 9mm....

 

Battery issues aside, I hope your wife’s operation is successful and she makes a 100% recovery.

 

If I’m following this correctly - you drove the truck for 30 minutes after jumping it (when this problem first manifested) and then threw a meter on and the battery was right around 11 volts… no way in hell I’d be taking that battery on a road trip. I agree, it sounds like you have a bad cell.

As people have told you - if you don’t value your time or effort, warranty the battery with the dealer and get another crappy one at no cost. If you do value your time and effort, buy a quality replacement and forget about it for the next 5 years.