Replacement Fuel Pump Brand to use: Love/Hate Pump -v- Assembly

My tank is out and I only have to remove the retainer ring and I'll be needing my replacement pump or assembly.

I've been searching to find if there is any difference between what is available out there and it seems like there is a tremendous difference between brands. However, a lot of the threads I found are over 5 years old.

Since it is not rocket science to make a durable pump, by now there may be cheap pumps that are fairly robust.

The Cheap Leader is an AutoBest pump for $23.
Almost everyone complains about AirTex.
Almost everyone says AC Delco/Delphi is the best.

I wonder if Denso might also be a "best?"

Would a Motorcraft be the same as the OE pump from Ford Parts Department?

Thanks
Tom

Oh, it gets worse... much worse...

Ls1Tech>Mr. Fuel Pump:
"The only aftermarket fuel pumps that should be considered for a stock vehicle are from the OEM manufacturers: Delphi, Denso, Bosch, TI Automotive/Walbro and Continental/VDO are the main players; much better quality than you will find from anyone else. AC Delco will basically be one of these in their box unless it has been out of production for 20+ years, then it will be anything AC Delco can get; AC Delco doesn't make fuel pumps"

And then lots of stories of Motorcraft reboxing AirTex pumps. And I guess who knows, what you get when you buy an AC Delco.

I talked to my Taxicab business owner friend and he says he buys all fuel pumps from the dealer. If I buy from Ford dealership, do I get a Motorcraft aftermarket pump or one in a Genuine Ford Parts box?

Just found a deal: Delphi fuel pump assembly for $186 at PartsGeek.com. RockAuto was around $250 for Delco.

I looked through Ebay specifically searching used, and found a yard seling a pump that looked (and turned out to be ) almost brand new, $60 later it was mine. It's a Carter, but has been quiet,worked reliably for a year now.

Instead of dropping the whole tank I undid the straps and lowered it primarily on the passenger side - saved the toruble of dealing with the filler neck to tank hose which would not budge (someone else did it this way, keep an eye on the filler neck hose for a few days afterwards as a leak there would be bad).

Yes, I thought it might be possible to lower just the passenger side.

I would definitely loosen the hose clamps on the filler and vent tubes just in case things wanted to move a little.

And then, hopefully, the gas would be low enough that you wouldn't leak gas out of the tilted tank when you removed the pump.

I was thinking you could actually use the two straps themselves to lower the tank - just make some bailing wire extensions that would let you crop that side while using the OE straps. If the gas was low enough, you could probably do it w/o even using any kind of jack - just do one side at a time.
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Anyhow, reassembly is now on permanent hold since the Delphi Assembly is back ordered everywhere.

Oh well...

Good point on the fuel level, my pump was failing sporadically so when I actually dropped the tank the gas light was on and it only had a couple gallons in it. Would not try the "drop one side only" with a full tank - siphon it out first.