The Frankenstein Build! LT/Expo/Trail rig..and BS

No, that is the pulley it came with. 5-rib? I know its wider that the stock one.

 

Gotcha. Mine is a 6 rib pulley. Looks from the pic that the pulley is 3 but Ill take your word for it.

 

I got this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alternator-...-to-Denso-Geo-Toyota-Oval-Style-/200850434281

 

Lol pop tart 12 hours ago, that's your favorite food group i knew it!

 

Which cs number is the stock Tacoma?

 

It will work on CS121, CS130 and CS144
It plugs into your stock harness so you will not have to cut it.

 

Here you go man:

Okay. Update time

So as you all may know I put in a GM Cadillac CS144 alternator. I also decided to keep my stock one for a back up as I plan on a huge expedition sometime in my life to South America.

To do this. Was a bit tricky. The wiring for the CS144 is different then the stock. But fear not. For I have a way.

So CS144 has four wires like so



This is important. The bigger wire is the sense wire. I just end up thing that strait into the alternator. This corresponds to the Toyota white wire

The next wire is going to be the ignition wire. This corresponds to the red Toyota wire

Then the next one is the most important. It is what actually activates the alternator. This corresponds to the yellow toyota wire. Technically..this is the only wire you NEED to connect. But. I have read it doesn't hurt to activate the others. So I did.

Since you don't need the furthest wire away I just nipped it




Now. To make it easy to swap the alternator in a hurry. I put some water tight connectors on both the alternators and the stock harness.

One of these. Came with 4 wires but only need three



Wired it up to the stock harness and stock alternator.



Now for the CS144 I just tired the larger sense red wire into the the alternator with a ring terminal. So only needed two of the wires on its quick connect.



CS144 is wired like so



So basic setup there. But then you have the stock wiring from the alternator to deal with. I am running 4ga wire from the new cs144 to a 150amp breaker then to the battery.

But. I kept the stock power wire that came off the stock alternator in place. So as to keep it easy to swap in. I tapped it off on the end by the alternator. But..you have to disconnect it in the fuse box since the stock wiring goes like so. Alternator-fuse box-battery.

This is the stock wire that goes to the back of the stock alternator



The wire come up into the fuse box and attaches to a post in the fuse box. Disconnect it here and just put it down in the big empty space in the fuse box

You see the post here




Now. To get power to the fuse box. Just use the standard stock wire that normally runs to the fuse box. It'll even run through the stock 80amp relay so it's safe. No need to upgrade this wire as I'm just running the cs144 strait to the battery.

So. Connector on the left is what you attach to the battery. One by the post gets taped and tucked.



You also don't need to upgrade the stock starter wire.



Now for mounting the cs144


You need a spacer of some sort to make up for the size difference. Ironically the cs144 mount is smaller.



Here is my spacer



Has to be a bit under 1/4"

The I made my main power wire.

3/8" end.



Then it just goes right into the stock position. Takes a bit of muscling. I took theskids off. Helped.

Now..for belts.

This is something I didn't find to go with all the research I did. Most write ups have a supercharger installed so a new belt isn't needed. For those that didn't. They said the stock belt would work. Or if not. Just get a second power steering belt and it fits.

Well. I didn't find this to be true. I bought a power steering belt and it didn't fit....hmmm. So I went back and asked for the next size up and it fit great. Picked up a new AC belt and kept the new PS belt so now I have back ups for all my belts

Here is the part number. One on the bottom is a power steering belt. One on the top is what I used for the cs144 alternator.



It's in! Fits perfect.



Now just tied in my breaker and my new lead to the battery.





I left the stock ground wire too. I will add another new one to the frame later. I also made a new one to go to the body. Forgot to snags a pic of it though.


Slapped in the battery and connected it up. Worked like a charm!! Fired right up.

NO



This is a horrible idea.

If you want mor then 3'' of lift up front you need a drop bracket lift. The front suspension can only take 3'' MAX due to the ball joints and CVs and the tie rod.

Im not a strong advocator of drop bracket lifts. They net you no more clearance then a 3'' lift because you drop the entire front diff 6''. So your front diff clearance, stays the same.

I don't even really recomend 3''. Our trucks do not like it. The stress put on the joints and CVs is too much and you'll start tearing through boots and such. 2.5'' is the best happy spot for our rigs for preformance, comfort, and all the joints.

the marlin clutch kit is great!

However, good luck getting one.

they are often backorder from them. Which is why i just recomended the LCE one. But either one is a great choice!

im poor...haha

 

A follow up to which belts will fit. Because of some research done by Mr Tim @at_olw it would seem these reman'd GM alts can come with more than one pulley size. On my setup, the stock alt belt fit perfectly whereas Monte had to go up in length.

 

Monte, what gauge wire did you use to the battery? And why the breaker, needed?

 

4ga.

It's not super need. I just did it be safe. It is a reman after all

 

Are you still running the Hellas on the ditch light brackets? if so, did you find them useful? in the way? Im considering getting some and mounting them in that location.

 

I am. And i haven't actually been able to wire them up yet. But yes, i have no doubt they will be extremely useful. Im going to angle them out a bit more as im changing up my lighting setup some. They will be great wide spot lights/ditch lights.

they are great lights with the HIDs.

 

Well that's good to know as I'm only 16 and the only thing people care about or like around here is the biggest, highest lifted diesel truck that are no where near offroad capable. I'll listen to people on here more than these other high school kids. I'll stick with what gets the most travel and least wear. I'll have to take a picture to show how stupid these trucks are with 6 inches in the front and 0 in the back with 22 inch rims and the closest street tire to a racing slick as you can get.

 

Yea pay no mind to those guys. just do your own thing

 

×1000

 

But big heavy diesels can blow smoke and make your Weiner bigger!

 

So that's what I've been doing wrong. All this time I thought that's what girls were for.

 

This is true.... BRO

 

Almost 600 effing pages!? I wonder how many people have read the whole thing... I'll bet the number is higher than I'd expect.

I've been following your trip reports for as long as I've been on TW, and figured I'd pop in and say nice job... on the truck, the photos, the trips/planning, and the writing of the reports.

 

Yea...it's..long ha need to redo the OP to make it easier to find stuff. Just no time for that.

Thanks man! I love hearing that people enjoy reading about it. Makes it fun to share.

Looking forward to your build too