My 1984 ford f150 steering has a lot of play in it why?

My 1984 ford f150 steering has a lot of play in it why?

Most likely caused by defective inner tie rods, outer tie rod ends, worn parts inside rack and pinion, worn pitman arm, worn idler arm.

It's leaking power steering.

Your steering system is old, just like the rest of the truck. It's just "doing what it wants to", right? Being defiant to the steering input? Check the fluid, if it's dirty, black, whatever, just use a turkey baster and suck out all the fluid, replace with clean, start the engine, turn the wheel back and forth a couple times, repeat until the fluid is a good color. Alternative= get it flushed at a shop. But they will charge you more than what you will pay in power steering fluid to do it yourself.
If it doesn't help, you have more problems. Your rack and pinion might be slipping. Get under there and check out the mechanisms for grinded gears. Then you'll know what needs to be replaced.

Being a 30 year old truck probably has a lot to do with it.