I kinda thought you were gonna prove me wrong on that one..

The EGR diaphram is visible through the vents in the body and it should be closed at idle, so remove the vacuum line and watch to see of the diaphram moves. This also means there should be no vacuum at the valve at idle and if there is you have a problem with the EVR(EGR vacuum regulator) which is just below the coil, it could be leaking or could be held open by a short in the wiring or a computer fault.

 

I just got back from the test drive of about 60 miles , it is pulling hills just beautifully in O/D taching about 1700 rpm , also tried some hilly areas at 45 taching about 1500 in 4th , all seems well now , now I am running a powerful cocktail in the gas for the injectors as well and they could be cleaning up improving the situation also in tandem , but when I pulled out the difference was dramatic regarding power and response , one other thing I did as well just to be sure was erase the codes on the computer and then did another warm up KOEO test and the test came back clean this time , the idle when starting is still searching more than I would like so I may put another IAC on it , as that is the only engine mounted control left that is original .
I will test drive some more tomorrow but for a fresh tight motor with less than 300 miles on it , it is doing much better now , I had no clue a EGR Valve could make such a mess , I am getting a crash course on the Ford's LOL , I also just had the EGR go on my Jimmy last month , engine light came on , scanned and it said it failed , but it did not affect the motor performance what-so-ever besides bringing the light on .
With the industrial gas cocktail I am running to clean injectors , I am sure that when I go back to straight gas I will see a bit more of a change in performance as well , but the idle is smooth as silk and all the stumbling is gone , I would have never guessed all that could be the EGR