I should mention that you will get a discount if you place your order for DC through Ed at www.FICMRepair.com

 

As a follow up to my original post, I can't recommend DC Power after this experience.

I finally get Stan on the phone yesterday, 11 days after I placed the order. He tells me the parts just showed up and the alternator is shipping today. I then check my email and see 2 emails; one acknowledging my email from last week when I inquired on the alternator and another stating the credit I will be receiving since they are shipping a 185 amp alternator instead of the 190 I ASKED FOR. Stan never mentioned this detail on the phone. So now I'm getting an alternator I never asked for. I waited specifically for what I wanted while risking damage to my truck. I'm now contemplating refusing the shipment from FEDEX and going some place else. Yeah, I know there's not much difference between the 2 alternators but if they think informing me of a change AFTER they ship is good customer service then we have a problem.

I'm pi$$ed right now and may re evaluate once I calm down but based on some of the comments above and my experience, I would be wary of these guys.

 

Time to man up.
Stan did call and left a message while I was traveling. He apologized for only having parts for the 185 and made the decision to ship that one as I was unavailable. In my mind, he made the right decision.
I apologize for reacting without all the facts.

 

Just glad they did right by you.... I know I am very happy with the product and service I received. Good luck with your new alternator and I hope she goes in and runs smoothly for you!

 

well, seems to be a mixed bag of customer support issues. ack.

my experience was different... i ordered it thru ed, and had
him will call it at their shop, then drove over and picked it up.
and it seems to work fine....

i also have the OEM unit if it goes south, and can physically
drive over and walk thru the front door. that beats voicemail.
sounds like they are a bit overwhelmed, and the customer
service is falling thru the cracks as a result.

 

Hey Guys,

This is Kyle over at DC Power. I'm going to explain the issues that we've been having recently with the ship times of our alternators.

Basically, all of the units we sell are use parts from OE manufactures such as Denso, Delco and Valeo based on the unit you order. When dealing with OE manufactures versus aftermarket manufactures is where things get hairy sometimes due to lead times being as much as 90-120 days and last minute responses from the OE vendor saying "we have a delay in your order and will let you know when it ships." which then screws us up on our orders and leaves our customers frustrated.

We have a monthly order we get for our OEM alternators and some other crucial parts that were ordered never made it on time due to an uncontrollable delay. We had literally everything except OE Delco regulators and Rectifiers. They were assembled, waiting on those parts and our vendors were taking their sweet, sweet time. We know that these OEMs are extremely important to get out in the fastest time possible because of the failure rate of the Ford units. Our demand on these units has sky rocketed from word of mouth among other various things and we're doing our best to make sure this doesn't happen again.

As for the 185 versus the 190, the 190 has better idle output than the 185. Running a 185 is honestly overkill for a stock replacement and it will make a huge difference which makes the 190 REALLY overkill when running just a standard vehicle components in the truck.

Being honest, our product reliability and performance speaks for itself. However, we have customer service issues from time to time when faced with extreme demand. We're working on it as best as we can and I apologize for this whole fiasco that we've put certain people through.

 

Kyle,
Thanks for clarifying. Im sorry if my ranting gave anyone the wrong impression and you see that my last post was apologizing for jumping to conclusions. My intent was to determine if members of this forum could.enlighten me on their experiences since my attempts to.contact DC Power were initially unanswered.

 

Kyle, when you know you don't have an alternator in stock shouldn't your web site reflect that information?

 

good place to post an explanation.

most people can handle most things, and you can't sell something
you don't have... the problem is that most customers are like driving
to vegas with a 5 year old in the back seat, saying "are we there yet?".

speaking only for myself, of course...

and most of us are loath to tell someone unpleasant news, so we are
optimistic, and then ignore the follow up calls....

Me: "of course i can start on that project of yours day after tomorrow".....
thought inside my head: "if the wholesale house has yada, yada, and i get
tomorrows work done tomorrow".

YMMV.

 

Well I started this post on a somewhat negative aspect so I'd like to end it on a positive.

The 185 AMP OEM alternator arrived on Friday. Waited to install it on Saturday morning so the engine would be cool. Turned out to be the best idea I had since I ran into buddy on Friday night who had the tool to release the belt tensioner. Not sure how anyone can do this job without one! Anyway, alternator went in without issue, no shims required. Fired her up and had instant gratification! I'm now seeing voltage constantly in the 13 range with a noticeable increase in cranking speed after a couple of drives to charge up the batteries. Just hope I didn't do any permanent damage while I waited for the DC Power unit.

Thanks to all who provided insight on DC Power. I have to agree that there is a mixed bag of opinions on experiences. What I learned is they may not have an alternator in stock and will have to build one to fulfill your order. I just wish I was notified of this sooner so I could have made some decisions; cancel, seek other methods of transportation, etc.

YMMV

 

Very easily.... take out the 3 bolts on the alternator, tip it forward and remove the belt. Installation is reverse of dismantle. less than 10 minutes and you're done. No fancy tools or pry-bars etc.... needed.

 

For Along time I would release my Belt by Hand

NO TOOLS

Till I went to the School of CHEEZIT

But it can be done with NO TOOLS at ALL

 

That's true. But as a manufacturing engineer by trade, I'm handicapped by over analyzing everything!