Heavy Duty Alternator Manufactures

[Ken]

I was reading a new products magazine that listed two heavy duty alternator companies. I believe they are direct purchase companies and are fleet providers for many government agencies.

Fleet-Aid, 30421 Industrial Drive, Livonia MI, 48150, #734-425-2709, Fax-734-425-2885, email http://www.fleetaid.com.

Mpi-Vital, 803 Gemini, Duncanville, TX. 75137, #800-886-8224, #972-780-0072, Fax #972-780-0160, email http://www.vitalalternator.com.

I hope this can be of help to some of you heavy users that burn out lots of alternator. Mpi lists many trucks and I believe they specialize in police vehicle alternators.

Ken.

 

[SlimJim Z71]

Here's one more...

http://www.powermastermotorsports.com

I got my 200-amp unit from them.

-Tim

 

[theSnoMan]

Just a little side note to the alternater discusion.
I could see a 200 Amp unit being nice but we've always gotten by with units putting out between 90-105Amps. The number one key to power is good cables(new or at least clean). When you use heavy duty cables don't make the mistake of using welding cable. It's thin strands don't offer enough capacity. A larger strand is always better and we've found this out through experiance.

 

[John DiMartino]

sno-man,in older trucks,Ive got by with 65 amp alternator,but the newer trucks have a much larger load on the electrical system,so a 100 amp alt is about the minimum i would want.I have 100amp alts now,and if im in a small lot,I am running basically on the battery so to speak,because the alt cant keep up with the load.When i go from job to job,it recovers and the guage creeps back up to 14 volts,but ive had it as low as 11,then ill stop turn everything off except the engine,and run it at fast idle for a few minutes to bring the battery back up.Computers and fuel pumps need a minimum of 10 volts to work properly,when i raise my plow and im discharged,it gets close to 10 sometimes.I like the powermaster alt that Tim has on his Z71,he could power up the space shuttle with that thing!I put dual batterys onboth my F/S trucks this yr and after using them on friday,I can say it has helped quite a bit,not nearly as much voltage drop when raising and no need to stop plowing to let it recharge,beings a have a lot more reserve capacity now.

 

[theSnoMan]

John your absolutely right, the newer trucks do demand more, I should have been a little more clear, I was talking of trucks such as the older GM's we run (78-81 or so). We've always had a local alternator shop beef'em up a little and while I can't say we've never had a problem they are minimum. I can't stress enough the importance of good cables though, a person should never overlook the ground especially, it's just as important as the 12V cable. Also I NEVER pass up using anti-corrosion grease such as "Truck-Lites" NYK I beleive it's called. It's available from most lighting re-salers and is worth it's wait in gold.

Corrosion is the number one enemy on ALL electrical items.
Also don't forget to check the belt tension on the older trucks, they have a way of loosening themselve's up over time.

 

[SlimJim Z71]

Wheres a good place to get some good heavy duty battery cables? I've almost considered getting some 2-ga. amplifier wire and using that, but I don't know if the insulation could handle it.

-Tim

 

[theSnoMan]

Finding the cables you need can be the hard part of the job. Sometimes we can get it at local electrical shops, some times you can find the right ones at a TSC or maybe Big R if you have them in your area. You don't want to use Amp cable it's strands are two small to suck the kind of power you need. Remember on a car amp the music pulses drawing large amounts of current in spurts where as plows need it all at once. Wire guage is important but the size of the strands in the wire are equally important and you know I wouldn't have known it if it wasn't for the local alternator guy. He also had us run the a heavy guage wire straight off the alternator lug to the battery. You might also stretch a new ground from the alternator bracket to the battery also. Also keep in mind I've seen guy's try to chassis ground the plows when actually you should run a cable of equal size of the power cable straight to the battery. Try these tips, and let me know how your results are. Like I said though it can be hard to find the larger stranded wire, that's half the battle.

 

[John DiMartino]

If you are a junk yard scavenger,like i sometimes am,you can look at all the wrecked diesel trucks,they have much beefier cables,both power and ground than the gassers,you can get a set of them for next to nothing at the salvage yard or get them newfrom the dealer.The cables on myDads 6.5 turbodiesel are twice the size if the ones on my 350 gasser.My Dodge/Cummins had huge cables,I bet they weighed 5 lbs a peice,but they work great.When i put my dual batterys in my truck i got the cables from an old Caprice wagon that had the dreaded 5.7 diesel,the cables were mint and huge.

 

[OBRYANMAINT]

auto zone in my area has 140 amp alt's to replace the 105's that come in many gm's the price is the same as the stock replacement

check you local parts stores

 

[OBRYANMAINT]

thanks ken and slim jim for the links i talked to the fleet aid guy and his seemed to be peaked out more but was also almost twice as much so i ordered the powermaster

slim jim is it an easy bolt on replacement ?(as they claim) seems so and do you notice any immediate difference?