HDManny - It's not a client issue.
I found a decent workaround for the speed issue. Apparently all the slow-to-load ads are a part of the 986forum skin. Changing to a different skin improves load times significantly.
Go to Quick Links>Edit Options (or
http://986forum.com/forums/profile.php?do=editoptions )
Under 'Miscellaneous Options' set the 'Forum Skin' to 'C7forum substyle'.
Note that the other VBulletin skins change the formatting of posts.
The drawback with this is the left hand navigation is based on the C7 forum. Not a problem for me b/c I never use it, but a consideration for those that do.
The main forum listing remains the same.
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