Hey guys, im in the market for a new alt, i stopped at a local alt rebuilder and he said there isnt much he can do with it to make it last longer becuase of the horrible rectifiyers(sp) that are made.

What can i do to get more life out of my alt with the extreme draws i am going to put on it? Id like to get a 140 amp alt and put a smaller pulley on it, that should get more power out at idle/lower rpms?

Im lost as what to do

this is going in a 87 ta with ac, p/s, smog pump and is v-belt

hey...i thought the same thing..and then i waited...one day i was coming home from the beach and my idle went up and down...none of my power worked including wiper blades..and it was pouring..bad times...i strongly suggest you get a stronger bigger badder alternator...i was forced to,cuz mine gave up...and i know a lot of third gen's that had to replace theirs because of the power..you can get a cap, but i would strongly suggest looking for a bigger alt...(its called a basecap) i went to autozone, and they had an optional bada$$ alternator for your third gen...

i alos intstalled the march power and amp series pulleys and noticed a lot less wear on the alternator..hope this helped

optional alt? and what do you mean by a basecap?

UPDATE: do not install the march alt pulley..it has a smaller diameter, which makes it work harder(more revolutions) it killed my battery twice....i just left the other pulley on and replaced the alt pulley...just to let ya kno

optional alternator...there was a beefier version..if not..get a alternator pulley with a larger diameter..less revolutions=less work on your alternator

i have one 800 watt rockford amp and a 200 watt rockford amp both running and my alternator has been goin strong for 3 years now. I replaced it when i first got the car with a regular replacement one from autozone. Everyone told me i would kill alternators like crazy but i have yet to see this happen.

yea i have an 800 watt too..ever since that bad incident..ive been pumping music hard and no problems(till the pulleys)

hey guys, think i figured out what i am going to do, going to go to the shop and have him build me one and just put a big battery in, then upgrade the wires under the hood.
hopefully that workes

what pulleys did you get, march makes two sets a set for power and then they have the power and amp set which doesn't reduce the alternator, and tpis has a set that reduces the alternator 2%. your battery shouldn't go dead if you used the proper parts.

powermatser makes a 100amp and 140amp for tpi's.

now a smaller pulley on the alternator, makes it work harder thus creating more power at all speeds what you want at idleso at an idle of 700-750 your alternator is turning at a speed that is +if your enigine is runnin 1000-1100rpm. now at 5500rpm the alternator is turning like the motor is runnin 7500-8500rpm. that will be dangerous for your alternator. if you get a heavy duty alternator (120+amp should work for most) you should have no problems anymore. If you have pulleys now and don't wanna get rid of them just replace the alternator and make sure you have the CORRECT pulleys.

a powercap will also help to reduce the strain that your system puts on your electrical system. therefor helpin your amps get the power when it needs the most power(when its hittin hard). its like a litle battery that charges and discharges really quick.

now for those whos battery keep going dead,
cause
#1- wrong pulleys for your appilcation
#2- you need a better alternator
#3-if you have a powercap, its wired wrong(most people can't follow directions, check the wiring)
#4-something else is wrong with your car that has nothing to do with pulleys or your alternator

If you're running 1400 Watts, you don't need a bigger alternator, you need to get a capacitor for your system. Go to your local car audio store and ask for a "Lightning Cap." With 1400 Watts, I would suggest at the very least, a 1 farad Cap. What it does is store energy from the battery for when you get really strong bass. Then instead of pulling current from the alternator, it pulls it from the cap and lets the alternator gradually charge the cap back up. The caps generally run about a hundred bucks, but it's better than buying a new alternator every couple of months.

i had the march power and amp..and it was the fact that the diamater on the alternator pulley was smaller...it got replaced and it runes fine

thats the smaller for a reason, you put on a smaller crank puley so it turns everything else less, thus making more power. the alternator pulley is smaller to so you don't have to sacrfice electrical power the smaller ulley will bring the it clower to the stock ratio between the alternator and crank.