1995 dodge ram 2500 with a gas powered v-10 surges at highway speeds but idles, fine gets worse in city driving and cuts out when accelerating

when was it last serviced as could be a few things all of which will be rectified by a service or at least diagnosed, i'd guess fuel or ignition problem but get the engine serviced if not done in the last year

I'm not specifically familiar with your truck, but I would check with a dealer to ensure there is no inline filter before taking the part store's word for it. While most vehicles have a pick up filter in the tank for big stuff, I've never seen a car without an inline filter for micro-particulate. The part store you called may simply not carry it, or may carry a desk help person who doesn't know what they're doing (happens all the time). Other possible issues for your surging could be that you have a sticky injector that isn't opening/closing properly, that your automatic trans is acting up (if you have one), or a pressure regulator in the lines (my wife's car also does this because the part that is supposed to hold fuel pressure in the line is bad (as a result it starts hard unless you let the pump "prime" the pressure just before starting) and so it surges just a little with the fuel pump's cycling when driving at freeway speeds. I think you're on the right track with an inline filter though and would try that first.

Lose of power could be bad rings, bad valves, needs a tune up ( check compression first)

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My 2001 was doing this...would also cut out randomly mid-acceleration and return to idle. Very fun when trying to get up to freeway speed! Turned out to be an accelerator pedal position sensor. Also threw no codes! Was approx a $500 (part+labor) about 4 years ago.

Its either the speed sensor on the rear differential or your steering wheel is all the way down pinching a wire in the harness. I have had both problems. Raise the steering wheel and if that does not fix it then its the speed sensor(might be called something else) but it is on the rear diff.

Noise is coming from a dry u-joint and or the carrier bearing if equiped. Usually a u-joint "cherps" in reverse first then only gets worse with time. If it starts vibrating at highway speeds replace them immediately.

Check the timing and compression of the engine. It sounds like you either have a blown head gasket or a the timing jumped.

those sensors could cause the issue, clean the MAF 1st, also clean the idle system using the following procedure, the IAC can cause cruise surge. I use this to cure these problems all the time.

Here is the most common cause of surges and stalls and low idle, it is the idle speed control air-bypass valve (IAC) and throttle valve, they get full of gunk over the miles and cause idle issues (stalls, low idle) like yours, Get a can of intake cleaner from any local parts store, not carb spray, intake cleaner, it is made by a company called CRC, remove the air intake hose to the engine, hold the idle high so the engine won't stall, then spray the can of cleaner into the intake while keeping the engine running, use at least 1/2 the can, shut down the engine and disconnect the battery for 5 minutes, then restart and complete a number of mixed driving cycles, town, freeway, stop and go etc., after a few days the problem will go away as the system will relearn to the clean intake.