Steering Gear Box Shaft Pitman problems of the 1998 Ford F-250

Steering gear box. It has become disengaged at the pitman arm. And leaking fluid. I have found that the 97 and 99 versions of this truck have had problems and recalls for this. I was told a while back ( about 1 year ago) by a car dealership owner that this truck is actually a 99 I would like to add my vehicle year to this list. I have also had problems with the spark plugs "popping out" which is also a problem with the triton engines.