As I pulled into my driveway I lost most of my power steering. When I checked the fluid it was about half way empty. A couple days later I noticed under the truck theres was oil. Not a ton but enough. I climbed under it today and found this. The fluid seems to be coming out from where you can see the splines. I'm not gonna pretend I know about PS units but it doesn't look like I should be able to see those splines. Is this my problem or should I look for something else. Also in the red circle there is a drip of fluid coming off of there as well. Thank you for your help.

98 Exp 5.4 EB

 

Yes it's okay to see the splines.

From that picture it looks like the seal is worn out for the pitman arm shaft. Time to either rebuild, or swap out the steering gear box.

 

Ok is this something the average joe can do with average tools or is this something I should be bringing into the shop?

 

It's a bit of an advanced replacement project. The vehicle will also have to be aligned afterwards. If you're not sure it's best to bring it to a shop.