I'm looking for a new alternator, and I'd love to do the 160 L/N alternator that JIm Lane did in the Sticky, but I may need to do it quick. I have looked around at HO alternators that are drop in replacements, and I know there are some quality products out there, such as Iraggi Hand-Built Alternators. These beautifully crafted, hand-made beasts can be had in 220A models that are drop in replacements for OEM. I have seen these alternators power competition stereo vehicles running over 30,000 watts RMS with enough 0-gauge power wire to reach Venus. I'd love to have one...only problem is, they're super expensive and their applications for older trucks is limited.

I am looking around at other options for HO drop-in alternators and a company that keeps coming up is Eagle Auto Electric in Northridge, CA. They seem like a no-bull company that has a great reputation. They make drop-in 200A alternators for our trucks that are pretty reasonably priced (just under double what a cheap reman would run). Looks like a nice piece.

Any thoughts on them? Any thoughts on HO drop-in alternators at all?

 

One here. http://www.mean-green.com/

 

Another. http://www.paperformance.com/scripts/default.asp

 

Too much juice and you'll blow the fusible links in your truck unless you replace those as well.

 

Good info, please explain why.

 

I had my Chevy alternator hopped up to 220a by a local electric shop in Vineland, NJ

He does STRICTLY, Starters, Battery sales, and alternators.

That's his living. I believe it cost me $200.....My Chevy alternator is probably just as intricate as the Dodge one.

 

I had my 60A rewound to a 115A for my Jeep at a local electrical repair shop. It was about $80 and that was probably 15 years ago.

 

Do a search for these guys, Quality Power out of Yucaipa Ca. See if they can help you out.

 

My last truck had a 220 amp alt man that was sweet it was a Alt shop redo worked out Nice

 

actually its all about the draw through the system if your drawing to much amps through the current wiring harness you will blow the fuse able link to the alternator I did mine in by using an inverter (large one) hooked to the battery to cut wood for a bridge in the middle of a forest ooops .I redid mine with a heaver cable and took the main power for the lights off a spare battery with a isolator . Use relays to draw the current and you will be fine .similar to the upgrade for the blower motor.

 

Before you go and replace your stock 120-amp NipponDenso alternator for low output, try this and update your charging system wiring, believe it or not the factory wiring is trying to push 120-amps through a 6-gauge wire so a good amount of your current is being wasted as heat, do this long enough and you will have melted wiring and melted connectors.

Before I replaced N-D with my Leece Neville I replaced my charge wire using a length of #2 welding cable from the alternator (+) post to the battery positive terminal and also you need the have the same size ground cable from the alternator to the battery for it to be effective.



I have installed quite a few modified alternators on both my own vehicles and for customers and the one thing that I have found out is most of the rebuilds will only produce high current for short periods of time until they burn out and I have found the regulation was not good.
I have worked for years as a diesel mechanic and electrician and have changed and rebuilt many many BIG Leece Neville and Delco generators and alternators.

The byproduct of high current is a whole lot of heat that has to go somewhere and there is not enough mass in the small frame alternator to dissipate much more that stock


If you have a need for a lot of current the Leece Neville is a fairly easy project, the 110—555JHO alternator will produce 100-amps at idle and 160-amps cruising continuously.

Which one do you think could dissipate the heat from 160-amps?



You also have to upgrade the rest of your charging system as this would burn the stock wiring almost immediately.

Although I live in Southern California we have had some chilly weather lately, the other day I started my truck and I heard the solenoids for the grid heaters start to cycle, looking down at my digital voltmeter it was reading 12.6 volts at an idle with the grids on.


At times I have left my battery selector switch on the wrong battery and had left the radio on and or the doors open while I am working and I find I have run my main battery dead where it will not start the truck, I will push a button and parallel another battery to start the truck and hold it at a fast idle for about 30 seconds, I can then stop the truck and it will restart like the battery was never run down.

My inverter is connected directly to battery bank #3 (3 AGM batteries connected in parallel) using 2-gauge welding cable, Bank#3 is connected to my charging system using 1/0 welding cable through a 200-amp solenoid.

Jim