Well my alternator finally crapped out on me. My rig is fully loaded and has a pretty extensive audio system, which probably had no mercy on my alternator. As I understand it, a OEM has 60 amps cranking out of it. I'm looking for a bit more. Does anyone know of a direct swap with a little more amperage? 3.0 v6
me too. I just replaced mine cause the compressors finally killed it.Put a new autozone unit in and it instantly makes a whining noise. ****ty right out of the new box. Need to get that fixed before the relaxed show... There is a writeup under tech section about buying a gm 1 wire alt and a mounting kit from LCE but you have to put on the pulley. Im looking if there's a direct swap upgrade for 60 amps.
A little searching and I found this... 95-93 TOYOTA 4RUNNER,PU HIGH OUTPUT ALTERNATOR 170 AMPS | eBay Load boss 170 Amp alternator direct bolt in. $200 bucks though... Stock replacement at autozone was $150 so Ima get my money back and grab one of these.
What's the highest amperage rate I should push through the OEM power cable? Debating if I should run new 4 gauge for 110 amp output.
I just ordered a load boss 170a off of ebay. $50 more than autozone replacement, but almost 3x more output. I'm going to run some 4 ga. It wouldnt be a bad idea considering the factory wire is wimpy and only designed to carry factory electrical load. I suggest the "big 3 upgrade". Alt to Bat Bat to ground and I cant remember the 3rd...Hahahaha
As many of you know, upgrading the "Big 3" wires in your engine compartment can lower the overall resistance of your entire electrical system. The effects of the lower resistance are typically: 1) Reduced dimming and smaller voltage drops 2) More stable voltage and better current flow 3) Less strain on your vehicle's charging system So for those of you looking for a cheap and easy way to upgrade your system and help out your electrical system without adding a high output alternator or an aftermarket battery, this is the modification for you. If you have heavy dimming or are getting large voltage drops during loud bass hits, but you don't have the money to spend on a high output alternator or a battery, upgrading your vehicle's "Big 3" will usually help to reduce and sometimes even eliminate the problems. So without further ado, the "Big 3" wires are: 1) Battery negative to chassis 2) Alternator to battery positive 3) Chassis to engine Now, I suppose it would help if I explained what each of these wires does, and to do that I would like to paraphrase an explanation by IMTfox from a while ago: Think of your vehicle's charging system as two different circuits, one consisting of your amplifier and your battery, and the other consisting of your alternator and your battery. The current in your electrical system flows from your positive battery terminal to your amp, from your amp's ground to the chassis, and then from the chassis back to the negative battery terminal. But how does it get to the positive terminal in the first place? That's where the alternator comes in. Current in the second circuit flows from your alternator's positive post to the battery's positive terminal, then from the battery's negative terminal to the chassis, and from the chassis back to the block, which happens to be the grounding point for your alternator. So, from your battery, you have the power wire going to the power terminal on your amplifier and then your amplifier is grounded to the chassis of the vehicle. From here the current needs a way to get back to the negative battery terminal, and that way is through the first of the "Big 3," the battery negative to chassis wire. Upgrading this wire will "upgrade" the circuit between your battery and your amp by giving the current a larger path to flow through to get back to the battery. Now, think of your alternator as the battery and your battery as the amp. From the positive post on your alternator, you have the second of the "Big 3," the alternator to battery positive wire supplying "power" to your battery. From there the battery, just like your amp, is grounded to the chassis through the wire mentioned in the previous paragraph. Again, the current needs a way to get from the chassis back to the alternator's "negative terminal" and that way is through the last of the "Big 3," the chassis to engine wire. Since your alternator is most likely mounted to your engine block using a metal or conductive mounting bracket, you can simply add your new wire from the chassis to one of the mounting posts for the alternator. Upgrading these two wires will "upgrade" the circuit between your alternator and your battery, again giving the current a larger path to flow through. I DID NOT WRITE THIS UP ! All credit goes to a guy form j-body.org - the jbody organization I just re-looked it up. Sme basic electrical info on the upgrade.
How did the replacement go for the Load Boss alternator? Was is a direct swap? Are you still running a standard battery or an upgraded like an Optima?
