Steering issues

[97_Ex]

Hey there im new..... ive been searchin the forum for a few hours now an havent come across my issues yet lol. i have a 97 x sport 2wd and well since the power steering pump and lines have been replaced the steering dont work properly lol. basically at first it would work 1 way an not the other then recently it felt almost as if the power steering wasnt working at all but not quite as bad as manual steering.(make sense?)anyways i took it to the local mech he said there bad for the u-joint at the bottom of the intermediate shaft(apparently the boots rip you lose all grease and it pretty much seizes up) which makes sense cuz the steering was very tight! so upon inspection i noticed yes ok the boot is fubared so i load it with penetrating lube\grease and it has loosened some but still not where it should be........ and of course it grunts an groans an squeaks and kinda clanks in the colum and only in the cab?and you can feel it in the wheel, almost feels like its right behind the steering wheel, i also noticed the serp belt is well worn would that cause lack of power steering? or???

any ideas as im at a loss an really dont wanna replace it piece by piece.

thanks