I don't know what my 88 short bed with a 3.0L 5speed currently has for an alternator, but I'm gonna be adding some offroad lights and posslibly a winch. What amperage alternator should I go with? Is a Powermaster a good idea? Also, what's better in the Optima battery line, yellow, blue, or red??

 

If your 3.0 has the same alt as mine (I think it would, or would at lease be real close) its a 60amp alt. If you're adding lights, I would think that using a relay should help with power consumption. A winch, if I'm correct likes to have more battery power than alt. power, so you might want to consider beefing up your battery. Howegver that may just be when you're using the winch the truck isn't running.... You might want to ask someone else about the requirements for a winch. With the lights, if it was me and it may sound dumb, I'd just install them and see what kind of drain it puts on your charging system. If the system can keep up, then no need for a new alt.

 

If I was so daring as to buy a 100 amp 3 wire alernator, I could wire it myself and it'd be ok, right?! Anyone see any problems with that? I'll be running 4 PIAA offroad lights, a patriot 12,000 winch, possibly electric lockers front and rear. 100 amps be enough?

 

Yeup, swapping the alternator is pretty straight-forward to do.

Where were you planning on getting the 100amp? A couple of folks here (me included) have had great results wirking with MrAlternator.com. They list a 120amp unit for the 3.0 at $189:

http://www.mralternator.com/alternators/toyota.html

They'll also do powder coating (and chroming!), so you can get the alternator in any color you want.

 

Im not picking on you, but just trying to nip a few things in the bud before any misinfo was spread about. Nothing personal.


A relay does nothing to lower power consumption. One uses a relay to open and close a circuit with the activation of another circuit.

Totally false. Power is Power is Power. The winch needs power, when your stock alt cant provide the current and voltage needed to make that power (watts) the voltage of your charging system drops and both the alt and the battery pump out power simultaneously. You can think of a battery as a storage box for power. Power that your alternator provides.

This will only help if he tries to start a very large load, or if the engine is running there is a load that the alt cant supply. Then the larger/beefier battery will help out more to demand than a smaller oem battery.

That is one correct scenario.

The manufacturer should supply the winches under max load power requirements. This may also be listed as it's current demands at a given voltage.

Actually that's the correct course of action. Wire it up properly and see if there is a voltage drop at the main battery. If there is you need a stronger alt or at least better connections (big 3). If you turn on the lights and the voltage goes up a little bit, that's a good thing.

 

Are those amp ratings in Mr. Alternator's web page the same as those of the stock alternators?
Thanks.

 

Oh no, those are the rating of the alternators that he's selling which are quite a bit beefier. For example, the stock one on mine is rated at 90 amps at fast idle; the Mr. A one I have in there now is a 150 amp unit.

fwiw, I finally switched to a high output setup when my fuel gauge started acting really funky. It would cycle from the real fuel level to empty and back again in a period of about 3 minutes. Kinda' fun to watch, hard to know when to put gas in the truck.

 

I have a www.hoalternator.com

190 amp direct replacement, and it is a BEAST.

I have a system that will generate in excess of 8800 watts from the alt and two batteries, and the voltage doesnt drop below 11.5v. This is a VERY good thing considering that it used to hit 10.2 or so without the alt.

ho alternators also has a 200 amp unit for our trucks now. Tell em I sent ya.

 

The link doesn't work for me.

 

sorry

www.hoalternators.com

 

Thanks for the link. Since my Surf has a turbo diesel engine, i'll be needing the vacuum motor attached to the rear of the alternator. Can I just remove the vacuum motor and reattach it to the new alternator? Or should I specify it so it will have to come with the new alternator?

Thanks again.

 

Where do I look to find out what mine is rated for?
Should be pretty high from the factory with the heated seats and all.

 

Bumpin' Yota, thanks for the clarifications, nothin personal taken!

 

Like YELLOW!!

 

sweet, color is nice, adds a touch only a yota deserves

 

I just bought an Optima yellow top Tuesday... and I stilll wanna add some offroad lights, a 9,000 lb winch, and a cd player and some average speakers... I get sick of hearing the truck falling apart around me. I decided a no go on the e-lockers. Any info on what amperage alternator I should go with is much appreciated. 120 amp still a good choice for this setup??