1997 1500 4x4 Pickup pulls right and is hard to turn steering wheel to correct!

[Anaudiophile]

A buddy has a 1500 pickup: regular cab: long box: 4.3L V-6: 4x4: @75000 miles.
He complains of a pull to the right which I verified ( not too bad ), and intermittently it will be hard to turn the steering wheel to the left to correct this.......like something is binding.
The front end needs an idler and pitman arm, but all else is tight and looks ok. Power steering fluid level and condition is good.
I am wondering if the ball joints are prone to causing a bind in the steering like this......however they do not have any play in them?


Thanks for any input!!

[taillight]

Replace idler and pitman first.