What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Yup I just hoping it won't be that hard installing it.

Thank you, hoping this will last me another 10-15 years before I look for a high output alternator that'll last just as long as OEM. How much voltage does OEM put out?

 

14-14.5 volts is the norm.

If you dont need a ho alt then theres no need to get one. that being said i love my 160amp alt with my excessive audio and lighting setups. i also plan on a winch and other current drawing accessories so i think for me its a good investment.

 

Scrapping the ADS mid travel already?

 

Other truck

 

Nope. I have two trucks now lol. I wanted to do more but love my blue one too much to hack it up. So after about a year and half of searching I found a second one lol.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ice-horses-1998-tacoma-long-travel-hybrid-project.426743/



Blue one is put on hold for the moment lol

 

You can swap a GM 150 amp alternator, not sure if that is what you are talking about?

 

Yeah, just moved the belt over a rib or two.

The issue isn't voltage, its amperage.

As Devin said, an alternator in good working order should put out 14+ volts (or close to it) all the time. It is amperage out put at idle that I am comparing. It is ~40 amps for the OEM at idle and ~100 amps for the typical GM CS144 remans. IIRC, the OEM puts out about 80 amps at 3K RPM where the GM can be 140+.

 

I see what you mean. I don't believe I'll go to crazy with audio I'm only thinking about putting 1 sub behind the seat and call it good. As for lighting I'm just gonna run a possible 2 pods for backup, 1 30" lightbar and some halos for the headlights. Don't think I'll go to big on lighting. Got a write up about fitting a different alternator in your truck?

Might look into this when I'm running more lighting. Might not be a bad idea to have another alternator just in case in the later years I'll get a GM alternator.

Ahhh I see what you mean. Less risk of draining the battery when your running a lot of lighting or as devin said audio. There a write up about switching the alternator? The O'Reilly's brand didn't fit because I couldn't put the tensioner bolt where it connects to the bottom of the alternator through the mount.

 

I have one in franks build

 

I'll take a look, thanks!

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...trail-rig-and-bs.159436/page-154#post-6586377

 

At idle the factory alt is fairly useless. Running 8 55watt hids would have me well into the 12v range. i have a voltmeter in my cab and youl notice in gear stopped with the rpms dipped it really is barely charging even without a load. i actually swapped out the pully for a smaller one and it did a little better. still have it as a spare alt.




Oh and i only have 1 sub behind the seat myself. it just happens to be quite a big one...

 

Thanks for the lead for the write up. Looks great and I don't even have to switch my belt since I have a supercharger. I'll do this someday. I'll have to read it a couple of times just for me to get a full understanding but rather do something completely right than wrong.

I'll be on the lookout on my Ultragauge to see how many volts at idle the alternator is producing once I get her running again. And how big are we talking about?

 

My two alternatora have both put out over 14.4v consistently. Anything below that is an underperformer.

 

On mine, the voltage at any given moment is totally dependent on the state of charge of my batteries. On first start up, say after an evening of camping, the ML-ACR will have them separated. In this situation the voltage is typically 14.5-14.6 and I have seen moments of higher.

When the ML-ACR brings the house battery online, it is not unusual to see voltage drop to 14.0 for a while until the two batteries equalize. How long this takes is totally dependant on how deeply the house battery was discharged overnight. Once they do equalize, typical voltage is 14.2-14.3 even when running a lot of accessories.

I can imaging where the age of a battery would also play a role. My Northstars are still relatively fresh and take and keep a charge very well.

 

Wait till you have a fridge, bangin stereo, and lights running.

 

Stereo can sometimes take mine down a bit 1800w of unused power lol. But I think winch will be my next real power worry.

 

2 alternators? Is the 2nd ran off a bigger belt?

 

No, I suppose I worded that poorly. I upgraded to a 120amp alternator from a jaguar but even my old 60amp stock unit put out 14.4 - 14.8v

 

Good thing I'm not have this worry until I get out of college unless I find a job paying good enough to buy a mod every month.