Originally Posted by CountryBumkin

I don't think the moving in reverse but not forward means anything. The gearing in your tranny may be lower in reverse than 1st providing a torque advantage in reverse.

Try this, drive a short distance (5 miles) then immediately jack up the front end. See if the front when spin freely. Try again when cool. Obviously they should be free whether hot or cold.

Also, note that if the rear brakes are not working properly (sticking, out of adjustment, stuck parking brake cable, or faulty proportioning valve) it could make the front brakes seem like they are malfunctioning because you have to apply more brake pedal effort to stop the truck.

I had a similar issue once, where after driving a while the front brakes would drag (actually smoking). It turned out the my calipers (pistons) were sticking. A new set of rebuilt brake calipers fixed the problem.