Alternator - Any reason not to go bigger?

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

I literally just got it so I have zero experience in reliability other than the reviews on Facebook for the past few years. I'm very impressed with their customer service and build time though. Talked to the owner over the phone and he was great.View attachment 35604

Is that a spacer or extension on the terminal? Prices look good; about $200 less than I paid for my 320a Iraggi if I remember correctly. I assume "6g pulley" means 6 groove? How did you come across the brand, and what convinced you to give them a shot? No love for Fords by the looks of it!

 

[Firewalker]

I see very little ford on their website and definitely no 4G alternators for the '02-'05 Explorers. The '05-'10 is hit and miss some years are there some are not. Yet they have the '02-'05 Rangers and I thought those were 4G alternators.

https://alternatorparts.com/ford-type-3g-4g-6g-series-high-output-alternators.html

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Is that a spacer or extension on the terminal? Prices look good; about $200 less than I paid for my 320a Iraggi if I remember correctly. I assume "6g pulley" means 6 groove? How did you come across the brand, and what convinced you to give them a shot? No love for Fords by the looks of it!

It's not a spacer it's actually one solid piece. Yes 6 groove pulley. I saw quite a few recommending them on the lithium groups on Facebook over the past couple years. My choices were Mechman, Brand X, and JS alts. Im not the biggest fan of the owner of brand x, Mechman was only a 240 amp for the same price of the others, and JS was hit or miss with reliability. I emailed AutoTech at 8pm one night for a quote and he got back with me at 9pm. I called him to place the order( recommended for custom higher charging) and he was very knowledgeable about lithium, my vehicle, and what I would need to do with bypassing my factory alt harness. He also doesn't charge any extra when building custom alt harnesses for higher voltage charging. He told me it would be a week build time and I got it 7 days later.

 

[Firewalker]

Yeeeeep emailed them for the heck of it to see what their pricing was and got back this.

"We don't offer the 4g style. Only denso hairpin design which may not fit."

Which takes away a lot of Fords from their sales. 4G is pretty common during the 2000s.

 

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

Yeeeeep emailed them for the heck of it to see what their pricing was and got back this.

"We don't offer the 4g style. Only denso hairpin design which may not fit."

Which takes away a lot of Fords from their sales. 4G is pretty common during the 2000s.

Do you mean 4 grooves by 4g? The 4g/6g here is really messing with my head. I'm too used to Ford alternators being called 3g, 4g, et cetera.

 

[Firewalker]

No look at the link I posted above. There is a difference between 3G, 4G and 6G alternators. Casings, plugs and what not.

How to Identify Your Ford 3G, 4G & 6G Series Alternator

How to identify key differences in Ford 3G, 4G and 6G Series alternators. Large Case High Output upgrade paths from your stock small case alternator.

alternatorparts.com

 

[mrj858 10+ year member]

I’ve run D.C power and singer alts when I had my trailblazer but when I got my suburban needed a new 2nd Alt since the trailblazer Alt only fits the 4.2 inline six motor….decided to give Autotech a try since theyre close (SoCal) ive been running it about a year and can say it holds better voltage then my Singer all day even when it’s hot (200+ degrees) ….taking the Singer out soon to replace with another Autotech ( both are 370s by the way)

 

[MinuteMan]

https://autotechengineeringusa.com/

Got my 320a with powder coating for less than Mechman 240.

I ended up going ahead and purchasing the Autotech 320a

It was the best power per dollar option, and Samuel was super quick to respond and very helpful.

I'll update once I get it and install it.

Thank you everyone for the assistance!

 

[Firewalker]

Prices are right from them but too bad they ignore a large population of the Ford vehicles otherwise I would consider purchasing a 320 or higher from them. They should think about adding those vehicles a lot of people I know on the Explorer forums regardless of the years have issues finding decent companies with HO Alternators that don't charge 500-800 dollars for one.

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

Prices are right from them but too bad they ignore a large population of the Ford vehicles otherwise I would consider purchasing a 320 or higher from them. They should think about adding those vehicles a lot of people I know on the Explorer forums regardless of the years have issues finding decent companies with HO Alternators that don't charge 500-800 dollars for one.

*Cough* DC Power. My 270 was $605. 370 was $900

 

[Firewalker]

Yep exactly my point.

 

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

Prices are right from them but too bad they ignore a large population of the Ford vehicles otherwise I would consider purchasing a 320 or higher from them. They should think about adding those vehicles a lot of people I know on the Explorer forums regardless of the years have issues finding decent companies with HO Alternators that don't charge 500-800 dollars for one.

How much do you think a 320a+ alternator should cost?

 

[Firewalker]

Not 500-800 that some of these people charge. I have no issues with 300-400. Last time I got quotes from a few places they all wanted at least 550-700 for the 4G Ford Style that my Explorer uses. It was one reason why I had my friends Alternator and Starter Shop in Illinois take mine and build it custom to 250 amps. But I would like to go bigger to 320 since I am going up to a Cab-45.

I get it is a specialty and that not many places out there do Custom Alternators or Starters anymore. It is just a lost art. So many of the rebuild places are now gone that used to do that stuff since the '50s around the country.

I would buy one from that place with no issues considering what I have heard out there but the guy shot it right down saying they don't do them. Which is a common problem for those of us with that 4G style.

 

[metalheadjoe 10+ year member]

Not 500-800 that some of these people charge. I have no issues with 300-400. Last time I got quotes from a few places they all wanted at least 550-700 for the 4G Ford Style that my Explorer uses. It was one reason why I had my friends Alternator and Starter Shop in Illinois take mine and build it custom to 250 amps. But I would like to go bigger to 320 since I am going up to a Cab-45.

I get it is a specialty and that not many places out there do Custom Alternators or Starters anymore. It is just a lost art. So many of the rebuild places are now gone that used to do that stuff since the '50s around the country.

I would buy one from that place with no issues considering what I have heard out there but the guy shot it right down saying they don't do them. Which is a common problem for those of us with that 4G style.

You can easily swap a 130a into 4L ohv and ohc engines. I paid $30 for one at a scrap yard and $120 for one at a parts store. That is about the highest factory output you get for 1990-2010 Fords. You didn't directly answer what seems fair for a 320a+ alternator. That autotech outfit is cheap because it doesn't have a proven track-record. I'd also love a cheap quality option for my Fords, but "cheap" and "quality" rarely directly correlate.

 

[Firewalker]

Yeah I did answer it. I said I have no issues with HO alternator costs being 300-400, to me that is a fair price for that sort of stuff not the 550-700 for the 4G style they keep quoting me just because it is a Ford 4G style. As I posted there is several different styles they made including castings and everything. Mine came with a 130 amp from factory and is a '03.