Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums - Saginaw steering pump swap for 351M?

I am tired of that undersized and whiny stock power steering pump. And I am tired of replacing the crappy auto parts store rebuilds every two years or so. How much is involved with doing the swap? My main concern is that I keep all accessories, especially the A/C; so I need to know if there is belt that will fit or even if the stock one will work (since the pulley looks to be more or less the same size). Then after that, what is required as far as changing the high pressure hose if needed and what is involved with the actual mods such as a different bracket and any grinding or anything (I had to do a fair amount of grinding to the bracket to get my 160 amp alternator on there).

What pump should I look for specifically at the boneyard, or to buy at an auto parts store and pray, or even the dealer if affordable? Is there a "best" one to get? I want the best one that I can buy. It would pay for itself considering how many stupid reman parts have failed on me, not to mention the inconvenience. Little by little I am trying to replace all of my belt driven accessories and starter with the best quality, because although my truck is running great I am completely fed up with auto parts store remanufactured stuff that always fails time and time again. It is so maddening to take such great care of my vehicle and having to see it get towed two or three times a year because some godd@m remanufactured part failed and I was stuck. And nobody sells new, not reman, parts and the couple of times that I have seen them they were made in China or Mexico or some such place and they were still cheap so I knew that they would hardly be better than the reman stuff. I already did the alternator with the heavy duty 160 amp, and I bought a high torque mini starter but it was foreign and balked sometimes last winter so I am replacing it with a Ford Motorsports part. But I still need to do something about that ps pump. It was recently replaced for the third time in two years due to a massive leak that came from the tank part that developed a crack.

It really gets aggravating. I don't care about the lifetime warranty. That's how they make money, they sell them dirt cheap and most of them will work long enough and so they sell lots of them and it does not hurt them to do the returns. But it affects the heck out of us. It's so frustrating to keep my truck running in peak condition and have to get it towed home because of some d@mn auto parts store reman. Hey stores - sell all the cheap ones that you want to the people that want them. But can't you please carry some better quality ones? I'd gladly spend the money. I never asked a $30 power steering pump. Charge me $100 or even more and give me something that will last!

OK Sorry. I got off on a rant there. The original question was about the Saginaw swap. But I am sure that many of you are as frustrated as I am by the lousy parts. And nobody sells good ones, well the dealer if they have it but that can get extra $$$. Even so, I have done it. I got tired with thermostats failing so I paid $25 for an OEM T-stat and gasket. If it does not give me any troubles for a few years then it will be worth it. The cheap ones would eventually stay open too much and the truck would run too cool. That's also not good for gas mileage. And one more thing - it makes no difference what parts store you use. They all sell crapola. NAPA, at one time, USED to have the best reputation but these days I've had more garbage from them than anyone else. And unlike the others, NAPA does not keep your purchase in the computer. So to add insult to injury, when their last pump blew out on me after a couple of years I could not even get my money back. The pump failed as an emergency and had to be fixed on the spot. But since I could not find the receipt they refused to do anything. And these people have seen me come in there and buy stuff for several years. I told them "forgive me if I thought that it would last." They were jerks. I was in there covered with grease and with the old pump in its original box, and they actually had the nerve to suggest that it wasn't my pump and that I just wanted money. D@mn idiots. And I paid almost $100 for that pump because I -thought- that I was getting quality. And that was even the second one of them - the first one screamed constantly and would not shut up. So two of NAPA's close to $100 ps pumps failed on me within two years and I had to eat it twice too because they both failed as an emergency, it's not like these things can be planned - and we were not near a NAPA and I needed the bad pump as an exchange. Not to mention their -new- water pump that failed after about two years. Hey guess what - no credit that time either! I was furious. Between all of this and the towing etc. it probably cost me close to $1,000. Needless to say I have not patronized NAPA for a long time now and would not recommend that anyone else does either. They are living solely on their old reputation now because they sell the same junk as everyone else and they are a-holes to boot.

Thanks