Josh, Tow starting your truck is not a very good idea. The idea is to strap it to another vehicle using a tow rope, and dump the clutch with the transmission in 3rd gear to turn the engine over. While this will work on some trucks, it is not reccomended for a truck that has been sitting for some time with questionable mechanics and even more questionable brakes.
Best advise for you would be to get the proper guage cables, get a new/rebuilt starter, or rebuild yous starter if possible. It is likely the windings on your starter are starting to fail from trying to crank the engine too much.
When you are satisfied with the operation of the starter, run a compression test on your motor.
