I have had a bombardment of problems with my truck recently.

It's a 1995 F150 Eddie Bauer 4x4 with the 5.0, Completely stock.

I have MASSIVE play in the steering.

When I turn the wheel to the left while moving (committing to a turn) it makes a rubbing sound, only at a certain position of the wheel, I've inspected my clearances, nothing rubbing, but my tie rod and pitman arm grease bushings are VERY wet, and there is some coating all over the surrounding areas, but I can't see how that would cause this sound/feeling, and it's only on the drivers side, when in reverse, it sounds WORSE, and even adds MASSIVE drag, slowing me down.

and the last problem is on the passengers side, and I can't determine what triggers this noise, but noticed it likes to do it when I apply the brakes, it sounds as if there is something in my blower box, striking the fan fins, but adjusting the fan speed does nothing to affect the sound.

Any and all help is appreciated, I shall forewarn you, I cannot do any looking into anything until further notice, I sustained an injury recently, and am restricted in movement.

 

Only a guess but the oily coating could be coming from the PS box or one of the lines. If your truck has large amounts of play it could be the ball joints, pitman arm, steering shaft coupling, or a bad steering box. Tie rod ends tend to wear the fastest and are the component most likely to be damaged so I always check them first.
Any time I do front end work I usually support the truck on jack stands on the front frame rails and let the wheels hang free. As I'm jacking the truck up I look for any unusual movement or noise.
Beecause of the nature of the noise I would look carefully at the steering box mounting on the frame and also the pump.
Merry Christmas
rikard

 

are you losing PS fluid?