So my steering has been having this problem a little bit now and since I've been layed off I'm gonna fix it now. When I'd turn every once in a while it would bind and then break free, my one friend had the same problem and he said it was his power steering pump, but the resevior looks okay, no leaks and the fluid looks fine. So i'm thinking the universals. They look to to be the same one that came from the factory, (no grease fittings). He says it can't be them though because when I'm driving the hubs are unlocked and not in four wheel drive. I'm thinking the hubs might be a little dry of grease and with the little bit of frition in there it has the axels turning. So I got the univerasls (new with grease fittings) and I'm gonna replace them and see what happens. I greased my king pins to try to rule them out, but when I disassemble the front end I can still check them out, too.

 

The axles still roll along from friction, no matter how well lubed the hubs are.

 

I just went through this last week. The steering would be hard to turn to the right but worked fine to the left. It felt like it was binding. Being that I replaced the inner axle joints a couple of years ago so I knew it wasn't them. So when all else fails read the operators manual. The instructions tell us to put the truck in 4WD monthly and move it around a bit. So I left the hubs unlocked and drove it around the driveway with hard left and right turns for about five minutes and after I spun the axles and loosened up the grease it worked just fine.

 

I'd bet that you have a frozen up front axle u-joint. There's been alot of that going around lately on this forum!