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God be with your wife and I pray for her speedy recovery. The gauge should fairly rapidly get to normal operating temp which is close to halfway, and very steady regardless of operating condition.
Also check to make sure the fan clutch is not seized. You should be able to move the fan with some resistance with the engine not running. When you first start the engine the fan will make a considerable amount of noise for a few seconds then it will get much quieter. This means the clutch is working properly. If you see the temperature rise while operating the truck, say you are pulling a load uphill or something similar, you should hear the fan noise increase as the clutch engages more as the temperature rises.
The clutch is the aluminum hub that the fan is bolted to, and it is also bolted to the water pump. If the clutch has frozen then the fan is being directly driven by the engine and it will make a lot of noise. A normally working clutch fan will never drive the fan higher than 2500 RPM. This is so it will not use more power than necessary for proper cooling.
No (check engine light) codes would be a very strong indication that the thermostat is your main issue.
Prayers for your wifes health and better circumstances for yourself. I am pushing 61 myself.
regards
Mech
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