You can lay under the front of the truck with it running. CAREFULLY reach up and turn the steering column shaft back and forth and look at the suspension move. Watch out for the fan!

My truck developed a similar noise. At first it'd only happen when the truck 'rocked' from side to side backing out of the drive over a curb. I could feel it in the steering, but it didn't seem to do it while driving down the road.

Eventually it got more pronounced and I was able to narrow down what was happening. It ended up being the upper bushing on the track bar. I got new ones and installed them myself, no re-alignment or special tools required.

As for the steering box, I preemptively added a steering brace. I've got 35" tires and drive on rough roads, so it's pretty cheap way to take a LOT of the load off of the steering box.

Ben