I have searched and searched and there's no place that positively tells me what alternator I have. Sorry if there's some chart somewhere (there should be) but I haven't found it.
My alternator is dying and not fully charging my battery so my truck won't start after sitting for only a few days.
There's a shop nearby that can rebuild the 130A ford alternators to 200A+ which is what I need, but he said to make sure I have the 130A. I do think I have the 95A but want to make sure.

I have a 2001 4x4 XLT 4.0L without power (windows, locks) but do have cruise ctrl.

If I have the 95A which can't be rebuilt, i'm going to get a high output alternator (200A+) from some place online...any suggestions to any good places/alternators?

 

probably a 90amp. came stock. at least on mine it was a 90amp when i replaced it upon getting the truck.

you should look into getting a second battery as well. then relocate both batteries somewhere else in the truck. thats my plan. when i get some extra lights and such i will be running two batteries and high output alt.

 

Thanks, i'm guessing I do have the 90/95A.

I've had my Optima YellowTop for over 4 years and everything has been completely fine until now...I definitely recommend it. I always did want a high amp alternator but never saw anything to really fail make me get one, until now. The YellowTop is enough for sure if you have a high amp alternator. Two batteries would be good if I used my truck without it running, but I rarely do that, and if I do it's for music and i've played my stereo for at least an hour at a time and it starts right back up. While driving the alternator will supply the power needed for everything, and I know my stock, small alternator was struggling but i'm almost glad it died so I can get one that I need.

 

I found one here that I may get:

2001-92 Ford Ranger 2.3, 3.0, 4.0L Load Boss Alternator


But i'm concerned if this fits or not. It says fits 4.0 from 01-92, but does it? I have the SOHC and i'm thinking that maybe it's a misprint and fits the OHC.

 

Well, I ordered the Load Boss 200A alternator, and some 0/1g wire. I'll do a HOW-TO when all the parts come in and I do the install.

 

I have a 200a load boss, got mine on Evilbay. I believe from the same company you listed.

So far, no complaints with mine. Removing the old one was no biggie, installing the new one was easy as well. The only tough part was routing that 1/0ga wire & getting the wire loom to stay in place.

Don't forget the 1/0ga crimp connectors, new battery terminals & heavy duty fuse/holder. I got my parts from Parts Express, the only place I could find 1/0ga crimp connectors with a 1/4" hole (for the alternator output), I used 5/16" hole connectors for the rest.

Remember to upgrade the grounds with 1/0ga also.

 

You could have just bought an Exploder alternator. It outputs 130 amps.

 

Well that's good that you like yours so far, that's good to hear.
I got 0/1g wire and ends from weldingsupply.com...I got stuff there before. I have 0g wire ran to the cab for my stereo system as well as a 4g ground. I have all of the ground wires upgraded already from the "big 3" and have upgraded 0g grounds everywhere possible, but I am going to put a 0g ground on the alternator and engine ground somewhere also.



Yes, I could have got an explorer 130A one, but my electrical draw is close/over over that most of the time. I'm surprised my stock 90A lasted for a few years with my stereo and lighting. I think the YellowTop saved it a bit.
And for the small added cost i'd much rather go with the 200A.

My subwoofers' amplifier has a 140A fuse, according to the link below and other technical data, it can possibly draw around 90A continuously. Add to that 90A my component speaker amplifier with another 15A continuous, a set of Hella 500's at around 10A, and a set of Hella 4000's at around 15A, and that's only the accessory draws mentioned and the truck is normally sucking up a bunch of the stock 90A alternator power.
The link says alternators on average have a 40% reserve capacity, so my 90A alternator had about 35A for accessories to use until it's maxed out.
90+15+10+15=130A
So at max draw capacity with all accessories on and stereo up real cookin loud, I can possibly draw 100A over what the alternator can put out = alternator death = 200A alternator sounds pretty nice.


via: Determine Amperage Draw of Your Electrical System - Realm of Excursion





I'm just trying to make a nice, detailed post about the amperage draws and the need for a higher output alternator. I have searched a bunch and there's not a ton of info about it on R-F.

 

Ah. I didn't know you had so much draw.

 

Sounds like you're on the right track.

I haven't been able to drive my truck much this winter & my 1yr old battery doesn't seem to get charged up as it should, but I've only been letting the truck idle for 10-15min a day in 20*+/- weather.

If I can get all the little things fixed that have gone wrong in the last few months, I'd be driving it a little more & the battery should charge better than it currently does.

During the summer, I've had my stereo cranked, headlights, AC, wipers, 2 sets of front fog/driving lights & a set of rear mounted fog/driving/backup lights all on at the same time & I still measured 14v+ on my digital voltmeter at idle.

I went with 1/0ga for all power & grounds under the hood & a 1/0ga & 4ga ran inside for stereo & whatever future mods. I couldn't find any decent battery terminals that had 1 let alone 2 1/0ga inputs, so I modified one.

From the info I had on the load boss, it claimed to produce 200amps even at idle, some of the others only output 200a at 1500rpm+.

Be sure to take lots of pics during the swap, you know how much the folks here enjoy visuals.

 

I've upgraded grounds in a few points on the engine where I saw oem grounds. Do you know where a good/the best place is for a 0g ground?...from engine to chassis and engine/chassis to battery. I think I may just run a ground from the mounting bolt on the alternator straight to the battery.

I have an Optima YellowTop with both types of terminals, so I have multiple-point terminals on the top, and I have 0g with the eye-hole spade ends bolted to the side "bolt-style" terminals. I'm glad I do have that battery or it would be a bit troublesome as you have found out haha.

 

I grounded mine via drilling a hole in the frame & tapping it for a 5/16" copper bolt. I had to remove the battery to get my drill in there & it was a bear to tap the frame. I think the OEM ground was farther back on the frame behind the suspension & there was no way the tiny little OEM bolt would work for my terminals.

I ran my frame ground up to the factory ground on the body panel (right above the driver's side headlight in front of the battery) with another 5/16" copper bolt & nut, attaching all of the OEM grounds to the same point, then over to the battery with 1/0ga.

I miss the old batteries that had post & side mounts!!! Luckily, I bought a few extra multi-output battery terminals, so I had some extras to experiment on.

I might still have some pictures on my photobucket page too...