where to buy an alternator

[Venom]

yeah
gotta pay to play
since my truck is relatively mellow on the electrical side, I think the PA will be fine.
e-fan, single amp stereo (may add a small 4 chan later), a few extra lights @ the compressor for the air horns. I think a yellow top and the PA alt will work.

[2manytrucks]

what or who is PA???

[Venom]

http://www.pa-performance.com/

Rob W's suggestion

[2manytrucks]

Cool...btw been sending IM's to you, no response....

[Venom]

on ICQ?

[2manytrucks]

Yahoo..says you are online in the Yahoo group

[Harley#356]

powermaster's customer service is the best i've dealt with from any company out there so far.

my stock alternator died on me 600 miles from home when i was on vacation down in myrtle beach SC. Between the subs, tv, system, etc., neons, E-fan, dual yellowtop optimas, gauges, when i turned the A/C on while cruising one night, everything went dim or shut off completely, gauge lights went dim, and the ABS light came on. the stock voltage gauge was showing fine, but looked at my SW volt gauge i had just put in 2 weeks earier and sure enough i was only putting out 10.5 volts jumped on the highway to get the RPM's up and got back to the condo.

called RobW up and he gave me the low down on what to do

ordered a 200 amp chrome alternator from powermaster. they didnt have any chrome ones avaiable though, so they sent me a natural finish 200 amp down to south carolina, and told me to just send it back when i got back 600 miles home in NJ and they'd have a chrome one ready to go by then. sure enough they did!

i noticed when i put the new alternator on though, it would still only hit 13.5 volts with everything on, so i had them put a power pulley on the chrome alternator to get me 226 amps.


had a few slight issues, but they've taken care of every one of them no questions asked and covered shipping costs on everything. cant get better than that!


it does add up quick though.

550 for a 226 amp chrome alternator
150 per yellow top optima ( i got 2 of em)
150 for a halbig machining billet dual battery tray
50 for a 200 amp solenoid
80 for 2 gauge wiring and terminals and install
80 for tsunami digital + terminals and monster - terminals
125 for battery tender trickle charger
______________________________
=1,335 fukin bucks i got in that part of the electrical system alone

why the hell did i just add that up? lol i dont need to realize these things

[Venom]

well, let's hope this fixes my power problem....

[2manytrucks]

Outstanding Larry...what was the cost on those toys if you don't mind me asking??? Is the alt the 200 amp variety??

[Venom]

billet optima tray - $125 from bigbill
Optima yellowtop - $160 from discount auto
160 amp alternator - $260 from PA performance

having a reliable electrical system again?
priceless.

[2manytrucks]

Might want to upgrade the alt wiring while you are at it, so you don't turn the stockers into heating elements. 160 amp is right on the border, depending on the condition of your stock wires you might be able to get away with not doing it...

[Harley#356]

here's a good little link off powermasters site for a general rule of thumb for alternator wires vs amperage

http://www.powermastermotorsports.com/charge_wires.html

our alternator cable is about 3 feet or so,,maybe a tad longer, so going from the shortest on that chart, 4' cable with a 160 amp alternator you should use a minimum of a 4 gauge wire.


they dont even list 226 amp on there for mine i upgraded it to a 2 gauge though to be safe



the new mods are lookin good Venom! i'm suprised you didnt get a black coated alternator or a bling chrome one

[Venom]

I thought about it, but it's so tucked away and hidden on the SC trucks, I really couldn't justify it!

[Harley#356]

true...forgot how hidden it is on your guys motors. i can swap mine out in under 10 minutes now i've had it on and off so many times but i'd still rather have it take 10 hours to get off if i had a supercharger, than be able to take it off in 10 minutes and be n/a LoL!

[Venom]

well pa-performance just made my poopy list.
It's 1 AM.
I'm over at my parent's, with my handicapped mom's van displaced so I can use the garage bay.
I have everything tore apart, supercharger drive is off, brackets, idlers, alternator, alt bracket, etc etc.
This is a real PITA job.
Anyway, PA-perf seems to think that L's and HD's use a 6 groove pulley system, but it's an 8 groove.
Yeah, wrong pulley.
If I put my stock pulley on the new alt, it's not gonna perform like it should (stock is a little bit bigger diameter).
SO I guess I'm gonna leave my truck tore down for the night and go out and see if I can find a pulley tomorrow/today.
I sent them an email, we'll see what PA's customer service is like compared to Powermaster.