I have just begun my electrical transformation for my Ex. I want to put some sweet tunes and a bunch of accessories in this truck, so I've got a need of upgrades. This thread will chronicle the transformation. Enjoy!




These are my two XS Power D6500 batteries. My factory batteries seemed fine, but I am interested in longer lasting charge and more power. These babies are serious electrical horsepower. So after they came in, I put 'em on the battery tender until they were topped off and happy, now it is time for install!



Serious. Serious. Power



One installed one more to go!



Number two installed and ready for cranking!

Tomorrow I will add my DC Power 270XP alternator, putting out yes 270 amps of power to my new batteries.



Here is the old one...seemed to be putting out about 70+\- amps at idle. The new DC Power unit should put out double that plus some at idle! After the install of the alternator, we'll upgrade the big three and then the sound deadening kicks in. Only my family and I will hear the clear clean sounds of jazz and gospel. The outside world gets to hear the sweet sounds of my diesel symphony.

More to come...

 

Ok so it took us about two hours to cool truck down and change serpentine belt and remove/replace the alternator. I looked at the voltage on my old factory batteries and one was fine at 12.7 but the other was at 10.4 I am going to put low volt factory battery on my battery tender and when it's fully charged have Ford run a load test. These babies are still under warranty and I want to sell them to a lucky reader here for $50 each, fully charged!

I intend to test and rebuild my factory alternator and keep it for emergencies. It's lasted six plus years so I think I wanna keep it around!

Enjoy the pics:

Box came in this morning from DC POWER Incorporated!



This is one well packed alternator!


There she is!


These shims came with it to put more tension on the belt if your factory belt is too long or stretched...I used it at first but since I had a new serpentine belt they were not necessary and I have no slippage even with a slightly smaller alternator pulley.


Here she is in all her glory! 270 amps and 200 amps at idle!


Here it is installed, but with the shims. We had to remove them later on, but the quality of this alternator is so very evident.




Well that's all for today! I will be having the big three upgrades done next week to give this alternator a strong clear path of flow with little resistance. I will use OFC cable in the 1/0 size. The factory cable is actually pretty dang good, but the connectors aren't too good and I'd like to clean up and upgrade the engine block ground and the fuse able links. God bless!

 

Nice, wish this post was out there a couple of months ago. I would have tried that alternator. Nice looking rig ya got. Congrats

 

Peace, how do you like it so far? I have the XP390. Big Bucks.... It is so awesome though. I also have 5 batteries. Just make sure you take care of the batteries. Who did you order from? I kinda know all of em. Robbie, Kyle, Stan, or Dave? I used to have dual 175 amp alts but the stereo got bigger and I needed more power. I regularly pull about 260 amps just for the stereo. They are a great company to deal with and You should have a trouble free charging system now. You wont be disappointed. No troubles here.

 

Hey Racer! If I remember correctly I think it was Kyle that took my order. I was also wanting one for my Mercury Marauder but they dont offer one for that application at this time. I am loving the juice man! When I plug in my accessories there's not a bit of power drop! My truck seems to be running better altogether!

Yeah, I havent even put my system in yet, but I wanted to do it right the first time and do it once! My XS Power batteries are kick butt! I put them on the Battery Tender when the truck sits for longer than a day. I want these expensive babies to last forever(whatever that is!)!

I will be running about 2000 watts rms through my system:

JL GMAX(two): one running stealthbox with 10" sub and other 13w6v2 in spare tire
JL G6600: running three sets of Focal Polyglass 6" coaxials

Im not excited about the head units that are out there right now...the kenwood dnx9980hd is just so laggy and janky! The pioneer is missing so much functionality(in its' navigation) I have literally been waiting for my hero to arrive but there's nothing that excites me on the horizon. I am thinking about putting in a cheap head unit and waiting for something better in 2012(like a faster processor in the newer Kenwoods).

what are you running for your head unit? Have you thought of using an ipad2 for a head unit?

 

Racer... XP 390??????? DANG! That is BEEF dude! You could power a CITY! Did you need to shim the alternator? I didnt need them at all. But I DID put a new serpentine belt on at the same time but it was factory size.

 

Im running the kenwood dnx8120. Which was last years model. I love it. I also have 2 jl 13w6's in a slot ported box. I have about 1000w to each sub. And 3 sets of jl zr650's. Its totally crazy loud. The only bad thing is the power tilt 1/4windows rattle so bad you can actually see inside the truck. Last time when my truck had the db meter in it was hitting at 156db at the windshield. I want more though. As for the I pad idea, yeah. Just dont want to redesign the dash. The shop that does all my work have done that in a hummer h2 though.

 

No shims at all. They mount differently between the v10 and diesel. Direct replacement for me. I did not replace my belt but I really should. Its 10 years old. I really need to replace it though. My truck is the v10 not the diesel. It does stay at about 14.8 volts and thats charging all 5 batteries too. Dave said that my alt will probably peak at over 500 amps but their machine only goes to 390. Thats why the alt I have is called the xp390.

 

I actually love the 8120, I put one in my brothers F250 and wished I had it in my truck! I put the 8019 in my Marauder several years ago and love it...both of them are twice as fast as the new 9980hd. I heard that because of the financial crisis the car audio manufacturers backed off on their more expensive innovations. All I know is it makes no sense for older equipment to function better than newer more expensive stuff and I refuse to waste money.

What amps are you running Racer? I just got such a great deal on mine I couldnt pass it up. I wish I could get the new small format amps...but these babies are already paid for and debt sucks!

I will probably find an older head unit and use it until I see something new from Kenwood that actually operates like it should.

 

I run all kenwood Digital excelon amps. For sub amps, I run 1 amp per sub XR1. And for mids I run 2 xr4s. Highs I run 2 xr4s. Yup, several amps, but all active amps, no crossovers. Direct from amps to each speaker. I was going to go with all jl amps, but my price was over half lower for the kenwood amps. I think to date, I just bumped over the $15k mark for the system. Shhhhhh, dont let my wife see this.