Check ebay or junk yard websites. Grab whatever you can and order UCAs to match. Are you doing the installation yourself? A knuckle swap isn’t too hard if you are already in there.
My wife had an AWD one too. But it was RWD until it slipped or was in sport mode. Just felt more normal than her old FWD explorer.
The infotainment systems all suck honestly. Car play is cool but I would prefer a pioneer head unit upgrade like the old days. Just simple.
Less driving could do it. Does it stay parked for extended periods? A battery tender could fox this.
All the systems have a deep sleep mode, not all wake up at the same speed. If you instantly started the truck from a long rest then I could see this.
What did the dealership tell you? Could have been a fault the computer reset and moved on. Wet connection, failing battery could do it too, failing sensor ect.
For an aftermarket head unit? Those parking brake switches can be wired up to a manual switch easy. Test a ground before you apply power. It is the safe bet.
Mine was that loose too. I upgraded the carrier with a JXB one. Much better, plus lubed the splines. I have a slight clunk still but I think it might be a ball joint, only when I really take off.
This is my next step too. 90s truck. But when my transmission went out I called corporate. Took 2 weeks but they covered 80%. I was out of warranty. Worth a shot.