I have looked in the junkyards for a smaller pulley that would work with no luck. That would be a big help. Btw, here is the thread about doing that.

I appreciate the input Babyhuey! I have seriously considered picking one of his ALT's up and want to make sure the $$ I spend will go to a quality product - not just junk!

I have liked what I have seen so far and they appear to be good with getting the ALT to you fast.

Once I pick one up folks I'll do a tech on it and let you know all the good details!

CJM: Quit following me!! LOL <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/nana.gif" alt="" />

This is going to probably be one of my next upgrades too. I agree it looks like a great compromise between higher output and keeping an original case and mounting setup. Heat may be an issue if this unit was running at maximum output on a continuous basis, but I wouldn't think it'd be running at more than 50% most of the time. I'm anxious to hear your thoughts on this unit once you get it in your hands.

Cheers,
Indy

Will do Indy! I just have to get the budget to a point I can slide the Alternator.

I will keep y'all posted.

John

Well since this was the thread that really got me thinking about alternator upgrades, I thought I'd add to it.

I looked at the options listed here and went with the 140a Powermaster GM alternator upgrade that was linked above and I dove in and did it:

85 Toyota 4Runner Alternator Upgrade Project

I chose the Powermaster since people seem to be happy w/ the GM alternator upgrades, they are used in a lot of the on-board welding kits, and because Powermaster does some upgrades for cooling and they have a good reputation.
The Mr. Alternator seemed great since it was bolt-in, but I haven't heard much about them before, and the specs didn't look like they put out as much juice at idle (where I really need it).

Anyway, that linked article was very helpful, and I found much easier way to mount the alternator. I posted some pics and info in this thread:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=451359





I've got it all wired up and it seems to work great. I turned on my hi & low beams (at the same time) and two 50W rock lights and the voltage only dropped from 14.7 to 14.5 at idle. This weekend I'm going to get my other two rock lights put back in and then take some actual current measurements with every electrical accessory I can think of turned on just to see what its actually putting out. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thanks for posting this here Erik. Looks pretty straight forward; did you have much trouble with the wiring?

I'd go with the ACE deal. its oem fit and small, takes no mods and is a fair price.
Givin that, I find it hard to believe its 160 amps but even if its say 125 amps, still a good deal.

I traded in my lifetime warranty alt at Kragen last years and the current cost for a kragen alt was
around $150. and thats a POS mexican rebuilt! They hate me at Kragen because my 85 has been
in my household sence new and everything on it has there lifetime warranty. Every 3~4 years I go in
for my free waterpump, Alt or starter.

I did go to an alternator shop once to see about uping the output on my oem alt and the guy told
me the diode plate was only large enough for about 110 amps? thats why the Ace claim of 160
sounds fishy. Maybe in last few years higher power small diode have been made?

The wiring was easy. I took the info from the writeup and MadElectrical.com, and verified it against the info in my FSM.

The big output terminal goes to the battery of course. I used off the shelf 4ga battery cables and a Bussmann Hi-Amp fuse holder and 175A fuse from Waytekwire.com.

Terminal #1 on the alternator goes to the yellow Toyota "L" wire. This turns on the field and operates the charge light on the dash.

Terminal #2 on the alternator is for voltage sensing and can go to either of the two factory white wires (the original large charge wire going to the battery, or the other one in the 3-wire connector that was used originally used for voltage sensing). I chose the one in the connector. You could even just jumper terminal one to the battery output if you wanted, but you will lose a slight amount of voltage at high amperage due to the drop in the cable.

I picked up a plug for the alternator off the shelf at the auto parts store, crimped two male 1/4" blade connectors onto it, and just pushed those into the factory connector (instead of cutting or tapping into wires), and then taped it up. I taped over the original battery wire ring terminal too for insulation.

Its all set up so that I can still easily drop in my old factory alt if I need to for some reason.



I too was skeptical of Mr. Alternator/ACE output claims. Its not a "proven" upgrade like the GM alternators. I was also worried about heat generated by a lot of amps in a small alternator w/o a fan. High heat = short life for electronics (diodes & regulator).

The Powermaster came with a hand-signed tag stating its measured output at the factory- 94A at 2400rpm, 146A at 6000rpm (alternator rpm, not engine rpm. Divide by 3 to get approx. engine rpm).

The email from ACE above even states that the idle output is only 75A, which is more than 20% less than the Powermaster. I'll admit that the bolt-in part was very appealing, but you still need to upgrade the wiring so its not 100% plug and play.

I have been in contact with the guy @ ACE and he said they replace the diode on the alternator. Therefore perhaps they have an heavy duty diode they put in. I had to just drop $145 for a Red Top so the alternator is on the back burner.

John