Sounds to me like a sloppy steering gear (a bad rag joint should be pretty easy to see, though Ford did put a plastic shroud over the lower one, so you'd have to remove it to get a good look at the joint).
Here's something you can try first before you replace the steering gear:
Disconnect the steering linkage from the pitman arm, loosen the nut located on top-center of the gear, and turn the threaded screw in a half-turn at a time until you start to feel resistance (binding) in the steering wheel right as you turn the steering past center (straight ahead). Turn the screw back out just enough to eliminate the binding, retighten the nut, check again for zero bind, and then reattach the steering linkage. Many times this will eliminate (or greatly reduce) the sloppiness in the steering. If the sloppiness persists afterward, then the issue is likely in the recirculating ball part of the gear, and will require rebuild or replacement.
Rock crawling kills them. You end up.putting a lot of force on the joint when trying to turn the wheels when they're against rocks, jammed in crevices, etc
Ram-assist steering would help with that.
I looked into it for my Ranger many years ago right before I got my BII as a primary wheeling rig, but never got to it because (for whatever reason) my BII doesn't seem to have near as much issue turning the wheels in rocks as my Ranger did (maybe because it's somewhat lighter). I recall some flow mods were needed to the PS pump to accommodate the additional volume of the assist cylinder, though it's been awhile since I looked into it (I think it was drilling out an orifice larger).