Q: Engine knock. Replace bearings when i replace oil pump?

So, the oil pump may have went out on our ford 300. It started to have a light but noticeable knock the last 5-10 miles before i parked it. Would it be a good idea to just go ahead and replace the rod bearings with stock or .001 bearings? It sounds fine at idle but up around 3000 it sounds more like a diesel than usual. I just dumped the oil and filter and put in rotella 15-40 for when we drive it to the garage this coming week to have the new oil pump put in to help the engine. That was my idea anyways. The motor seemed to actually like the heavier than usual oil and most of the knocking went away but i still have an oil pressure reading at just below the N on the "normal" wording on the gauge. It had normal pressure and rose and fell with rpms as it normally would until today and i havent driven it since i put in the heavier oil. It could be just sludge or something but i want to replace the oil pump anyways since it has almost 250,000 miles and since it literally just happened and

My car has 244000 miles.
My car has a manual transmission.