High Output Alternators

[2.2 Straight six]

Originally Posted by turtlecrxsi

Oh yeah I know. I meant if you come across some sweet examples of mounted lights on trucks or SUVs post em' up or send a PM. I've been looking a little as well at the Hella lights with the mesh guard around them...

will do. i'm mainly thinking of Hella because they have good brand reputation. i'm looking for lightbars meant for things like Sprinters (Dodge in the US, Mercedes-Benz in europe) and euro-style bumper-mount light bars, i'll see if i can buy just the alloy bar and add my own lights.

[2.2 Straight six]

That's the kind of thing i want for the bumper.

maybe not that particular one, i'm having trouble finding the manufacturer of the exact one i want. (they're about $800!)

[UncleBob]

Originally Posted by 2.2 Straight six

might not need to replace it..

thats only on the 4.2L V6, for some odd reason. Not availible for the 4.6L or 5.4L

[2.2 Straight six]

only the 4.2-litre had the 130amp alternator?

[UncleBob]

hooked on phonics?

thats what I said....not interchangable with the V8 units

[2.2 Straight six]

Gah!

oh well, i guess i'll have to get one of there $300 aftermarket ones.



what do you think?

$700

[turtlecrxsi]

Well, a couple of the county sheriff vehicles around here are Jeep Cherokees and they have light bars like that on the roof... but they're blue... LOL

I think I'm going to stick with the bumper mounted style lights with maybe a brush guard. Who knows?

[2.2 Straight six]

I'm a child...

since i was a kid seeing fire truck and recovery trucks with flashing lights i've wanted to have them on my own vehicle.

i want 4 spotlights on a bar on the front, 4 on the roof with 2 amber beacons and the flashing lightbar. winch on the front with proper bullbars (not this brush guard rubbish) and a top hitch on the back.

2.2 never quite grew up...

[turtlecrxsi]

You could probably get away with that here in SC and even more maybe... LOL

Florida probably wouldn't be too difficult to get all that either...

The South loves Trucks

[2.2 Straight six]

sweet...

my friend's old car (volvo staionwagon) had blue flashing lights in the grille, in the sunvisors and strobes in the headlights, as well as a police siren (in Britain the emergency services only use blue lights) and we used to get through traffic using it, pulled people over on motorways. it was so much fun!

[2.2 Straight six]

i've found some Hella lamps that are Xenon and run at 35w each.

i'm still looking to see if there are better ones, i'm going to contact some companies to find out about their lights bars and what maufacurer supplies the lamps for them.

in the meantime, i'm going to do some design work on the mounting bars.

[JayInCA]

Personally, I run the six set(Halogen)from dirt-tech, along with four more running on my bull bar skid plate assembly, They light up the desert night like nothing else I've tried.
http://www.dirt-tech.com/

I also run their trailing arms, and their front suspension setup, I am extremely happy with dirt-tech and the fabrication they've done on my '98 F150. Took me a long time to save up the money to get that truck exactly how I wanted it, but it's coming together very nicely, and dirt-tech has helped me out every step of the way.

[2.2 Straight six]

what i'm thinking of doing (if i can get the different lights in the same housings) is have a mix of fog, driving and pencil beam lights, then i have the narrow-beam long range lights, medium beam medium range lights and the low range wide beam lights, everything covered.

[curtis73]

Here is the basic part (which I'm sure you already know): W = V x A. Simply add all the wattage of the lights, divide by 12v and that gives you amps. Most systems actually run at 14v or more, but using 12 will give you a little buffer.

The stuff you might not know... typical stereos use remarkably little. Most factory head units put out 13-25 clean watts x 4 channels, but that 25w is only during really peak hits. That's what the battery is for. The teeny bit of draw you take from the battery is replaced in seconds from a 40A alternator. Even using 25w continuous is a safe bet on a factory stereo. If you have amps added to your system, use RMS to determine draw.

A typical EFI engine will draw between 10-15 amps to run. That includes the fuel pump and everything to run the engine
Add 5w for each running lamp
Add 7w for each brake lamp and turn lamp
Add 10w for each backup light

Now, since you NEVER have a situation where all of this is happening at once, multiply your result by .75 and calculate amperage. Running too many amps is not good. Its fine 90% of the time, but the first time you run the battery dead and get a jump start, that alternator is operating at peak output for a half hour or so. Asking more from your alternator than its designed to make will dramatically shorten its life. If that output you seek is available as a factory option, you're fine. If its not and you have to get an aftermarket hi-amp that is based on the same case, avoid it. It'll fry. The factory does a pretty good job of making as much amperage as they reliably can from a particular design. Just because the aftermarket can make more doesn't mean its good.