steering pump question

[dawgfather]

hi guys, i am looking into steering pumps and found out that there are saginaws and federal. any input in any of these brands? i was told saginaw is prefered and the reproductions are better due to leakage from the rebuilt ones. if reproductions are preferred where to purchase one? thanks guys

mike

[Ryan.C]

according to mopar action magazine federal pumps are garbage. I bought a rebuilt saginaw pump from oriellys auto parts last week for $40.00. I got the brackets for a '69 big block from 440 source for $38.00. Not bad IMO.

[dawgfather]

cool thank you. hope all goes well with the pump..

[crj1968]

I got a Federal pump from Summit for like $40 as well. Direct replacement and no issues

[469 runner]

I read the same article in Mopar Action from Ehrenberg that Federal pumps were garbage as well as TRW's.  This is what most of the 1960's era Chrysler Corp. cars came equipped with.  Why are they garbage?  The power steering in two of my cars both use Federal and TRW pumps.  The steering works just fine.  No leaks.  No noise.  Good power assist.  Nothing to complain about.

[John_Kunkel]

I read the same article in Mopar Action from Ehrenberg that Federal pumps were garbage as well as TRW's.

That's the problem with gurus, their opinions are way too often accepted as fact.

[Sublime/Sixpack]

I read that too, but the TRW pump on my '68 Coronet seems to work just fine. But with that said, the current pump is a rebuilt unit that came on the car when I bought it three years ago with only 72,000 miles on it. So maybe there is something to Ehrenberg's opinion on those pumps.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Mine had a trw on it for years behind my high rpm abuse. Finally scattered violently. My advice- if starting from scatch, get a sagjnaw based on cost and parts, if it already has something else on it, wait til it fails to change.

[469 runner]

What is there inside to scatter?  Just a small rotor with vanes supported by small springs.  There really isn't much to them to come apart I would think.  If there is any weakness I find comparing the Federal and TRW's is they may run a little hotter than the Saginaw.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Scattered as in like a grenade went off. I wound my engine pretty high. I went through alternators too for a while. Always had stock pulleys on them. Probably should have changed sizes but i was young and didnt know any better.
   The saginaw is more tinker friendly in my opinion. I changed the pressure output in mine and my car has the road feel comparable to a modern charger/challenger. Thats something you really cant do with the federal and trw pumps easily.