usmc-
everybody around here was a novice at some point. with good attention to detail there's no reason you and a buddy couldn't take care of it in half an hour or less...i actually did a partial bleed in the parking lot of a local 4x4 shop when i needed to swap the rear hose. i learned in the first place how to do it from people on this forum, and taking it to a shop is good, but if you wait 'til youre experienced to give it a shot, youll never get it done.
doing it with a buddy is easy, just go over the plan with them and use call/response to communicate--you and only you do the calling.
all you need is a 10mm wrench, better yet a 10mm brake line wrench, the open end has a slot barely large enough to pass a brake line but has more flats than a regular open ended wrench.
if your truck is older, get five new bleed valve caps for when youre finished...the ones on there now may be rotted, or gone entirely.
you dont even need a fancy bleed kit...just a plastic cup, a couple feet of CLEAR flexible hose that fits tight over the bleed valve, and a clip to keep the hose stuck to the cup. the cheap 4-8$ bleed kits are great since they supply the cup, and you can get more tube anywhere if the kit doesnt supply as much as you want.
attach the clear hose to the first valve, put a few loops in the hose to catch air bubbles so they dont return to the system, the other end of the hose goes in the cup. you call to the guy in the cab to pump the pedal, he puts it on the floor five or six times and calls that he's done, then you loosen the valve and youll see some really gunky fluid head down the tube to the cup. repeat like they said above, closing (gently) the valve each time before the next pump cycle, and then closing it snug when you're ready to move to the next valve. you're done with a valve when the fluid is obviously clean and clear and there are no bubbles. it IS possible to tell when new fluid hits the line even without different color dye...probably the water it soaks up over time changes the way light passes thru. it's a very subtle difference but you will see it. this is not the case if youve recently bled the brakes (like in the last few months) and then change a line or something, then go by the bubbles. once you're spitting new fluid down the tube and there are no more bubbles, do a few more pump cycles to be sure and then close the valve snug.
i did not use a turkey baster. with loops in the line (use a zip tie if you want), a longish line, patience, and two people, just do a pump cycle, see how far the level in the reservoir drops, keep going until it's near the bottom--BEFORE you draw air in to the lines, which is why it's important to keep the cylinder level high--then add your new fluid to the top. repeat until youve cycled the entire bottle through the lines and then the last time only top it to the line. you can do it all yourself but it's quicker with two people.
there is nothing wrong with draining the master cylinder. i have had to do it twice before, i do have abs, there is no special procedure on these trucks to bleed the lines with an abs system, and the refill was easy and drama free, if time consuming since i had to refill the entire system and that meant working out a LOT of air bubbles.
if for some reason you do need to swap a line or let the m/c drain, just fill like i mentioned above, let it settle, and get right to the pump/drain cycle. all that will come out at first will be bubbles...keep going until all you get every time is fluid. it's time consuming, nothing more...every single bubble needs to be gone. when you start the truck, check the pedal...pump it a few times to see if it firms up quickly like it should, check for leaks, go for a VERY short, VERY slow test drive and check again...if it feels soft at all, there's probably air left in the lines, so do it again.
hope this helps, its not difficult, just takes good attention to detail. its actually harder to do the power steering fluid.
-sean
*edit* btw when i mentioned pumping the brake at the end i dont mean that it's supposed to be soft til you pump it up...it should feel firm the first push, and almost impossible to move subsequent pushes. if it isn't fairly firm the first time, there's probably still air in the lines.