welp this week i bit the bullet and bought a new alternator. i thought my stock original(280+k mi) one was on its way out, but nope, it was just a broken wire... well i got a new plug from Toyota the yesterday with the pinned wires to go with it, and i will be repairing the old plug and installing a GM cs144 alt at that time. this alternator can be found is a lot of mid to late 90s GM cars and trucks, like Caprices(police cars), Cadilacs, tow trucks, ambulances and others. the alt i bought was not just a stock cs144 though, it was a high output variant of it, producing a health 170amps and can be upgraded to make over 200amps with very little work, the stock version puts out about 140amps. the stock Toyota alt puts out 80-85amps... i figure that should be enough to keep all my lights and winch going along with my stereo(deck, speakers, sub and amp running it all). i also have plans to get a fridge and large -probably 2500+w inverter in the future as well as a trailer build i will be starting on next year when i return home from my upcoming deployment. anyhow the alt swap is pretty much a direct swap, there are some small little things you will need to do. first off the mounting ears on the cs144 are shorter than the toyota denso alts, so you will need a spacer of sorts, basic bolt washers will work for this, and some people say you need a shorter belt, others say the stock belt will work. im not sure on belt length so i cant comment as of yet but as soon as i install i will post up the results, the other thing is the pulley is different, the stock GM alt is a 6 rib design, but the Toyota is only a 4, so you will need the belt all the way back on the pulley closest to the alt. the alt i ordered already came with the Toyota style pulley as i told them my application was a Toyota 3.4l 5vze motor, so im hoping i will not need any thing extra other than the washers. the other thing i bought was a wire harness adapter to go from the Toyota plug to the GM so its 100% plug and play, plus i can revert back to stock in the case that i would need to or it was all i had available at the time. one of the reasons i went with this alt is it was actually less money than a OE replacement remaned alt from napa, that wasnt even a denso and was made in mexico. this cs144 is brand new, not remaned, and is made in the USA, also there is no core charge on them.
this is a link to the alt i bought
http://store.alternatorparts.com/cs144-series-170-amp-standard-duty-single-rectifier-alternator.aspx
here is a link to the wire harness adapter
http://store.alternatorparts.com/wi...cs-style-plug-to-toyotal-oval-style-plug.aspx