Spicer happens to be the OEM for those and the ball joints.

 

FWIW, I was on a camping trip with my two boys in 2010-2011 timeframe and while driving between camping spots I noticed my voltage gauge kept indicating lower and lower voltage. This is unusual at least for my truck as the gauge never moved before while running. I figured it was the alternator. As I was leaving Death Valley I did a search for auto parts stores on my route and called a few until I found one that had it in stock. Drove straight there as volts continued to drop, and didn't turn the truck off as I was confident she wouldn't restart. Pulled into the parking lot and shut her down. Just out of curiousity I tried to start her. Nothing. Went in and bought the new alternator and had it installed in 30 minutes. I got a jump and voltage was back where it should be! I'm still on that same one. I don't remember which brand it was. The point is sometimes the chain store part will work fine and they are nationwide with sometimes very good warranties.

 

A re-read of that post #9 did not yield even a very very brief explanation.

@RigCity , what did you mean by "service design designation".

In other words, what characters did you observe in the Motorcraft part number of the unit that you ordered online, that you associated as having a "service design designation" as described by the dealer who advised you to "try and stay away from" parts having that designation?

 

I've been running my 160 amp Quickstart alternator ( with external bridge rectifier) since about 2010 with absolutely no issues (roughly 150K miles of use). My factory original went 189k miles before I installed the current unit.

 

That is the same alternator I have without the external bridge rectifier and it has been good since October 2018 and many hard miles. Although, if I were to do it all over again I would choose the Leece Neville and would have chosen the Leece Neville if I had known it was not the $1000 price I saw on a Ford website when I was shopping around for an alternator.

 

@FordTruckNoob thank you for your generosity you have also offered such help to me in the past. I was able to get the truck operational

 

You are very welcome. The offer still stands of your alternator craps out again.

 

I ordered a basic 140 amp unit from the Quickstart guy yesterday. Been hearing something on the engine making extra noise lately so I took the belt off and started spinning pulleys and found the alternator was getting rough. I think the previous owner put that one on shortly before I bought it, so it's probably 5.5-6 years old and approximately 130k miles. It's just a 110 amp Carquest reman it looks like so I'm probably lucky it lasted this long. Leece-Neville size alternator worries me with the glow plugs and is basically unnecessary for my truck, but I like the idea of switching to the large case design and a little power bump since I'm replacing it anyway.

 

On some advice I sent the Quickstart back and ordered a Bosch AL7606N off Rock Auto. Long story longer I am going to send that one back too, mostly on the info and wisdom from the High Amp Alternator...meet Glow Plugs thread (https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...get-along.html), but also because I was not too happy with how it was packaged (by Rock Auto or Bosch) or the condition it was in right out of said boxes. So tomorrow it's off the UPS store to send that one back too and I am for sure sticking with a 110 amp per the scary warning by Ford. I realize this might be a frustrating and unacceptable solution for some who actually need more alternator and didn't have the dual alternator option, but for me stock power one has always been adequate. Too bad they didn't use the 6.0 glow plugs on the SD version of the 7.3 but I'm assuming the bean-counters decided it wasn't worth the money to update that from the OBS version of the 7.3.

That being said, the bearings in my current one are still going bad so I still need a solution. I hate to say it but I might just go to my local store and see if they can source any new (not reman) stuff with a warranty. Dealing with Amazon or Rock Auto for this particular part seems like roll of the dice if it tests bad out of the box or fails quickly. Having a local place to take it back to and complain might be a better idea. If they can't give me any acceptable solutions I might see if there are any respectable rebuild shops around here that can fix my current one. Failing that too I suppose I will roll the dice with Rock Auto again and get a new 110 amp Bosch unit for the 7.3 (AL7555N). So I've got some checking around to do.

 

@Brandonpdx Consider doing your own rebuild - it worked for me. I have a dual alternator truck, so to save a little coin and learn something, I purchased a couple of rebuild kits from rebuilderinabox.com. Comes with the brushes/regulator, bearings, slip-ring and diodes. I just changed out the regulators/brushes, since everything else was in good shape (later changed out the slip-ring on one).

https://alternatorstarterrebuildkits...oduct/6g7796g/

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19352283

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post19804263

 

My original alternator went out while on a road/camping trip more than ten years ago. So I stopped at the first store that had one in stock and changed it out in 30 minutes. That one is still going strong. Don’t over think it.

The rebuilt kit listed above seems like a good fun project if you have time.

 

When I was still working the VW repair shop in Seattle, I had such good results with installing Bosch units that I ended up only trusting them for whatever alternators I needed to sell. Never had one come back on me and I put a lot of them in. The biggest failures that I encountered were not with the alternators, but more often than not it was the wiring where the trouble was. Fuseblocks melted because the connectors were made to carry so much current that they would get too hot. Then the resistance would go up and make matters worse. If you already have a Bosch installed in your truck, I trust them enough to recommend to you without even seeing your truck to carefully check all the supporting systems again before condemning the alternator.
Get the AL7555N and be done if you have some bad bearings. I found several on EBAY for under $210.00 outright (no core charge).

 

I watched the videos on his website and declared it probably a little too adventurous for me, and also mine isn't an original Motorcraft 6G but rather a reman Carquest unit, so I'm not even certain his kit would work with the one I have. No idea what happened to the OEM unit. Pretty sure the previous owner told me he replaced it when I bought the truck.

That gave me an interesting idea though to just look up a local shop that rebuilds them, and turns out there is one about 4 miles from me. I paid him a visit today and got a good impression so I think I'll give that a shot. I like the idea of fixing the current one rather than setting it on the shelf to collect dust after a new one is installed, so the only tough part is the logistics on that one but I'll figure something out. He said the turn around time would only be a day or two and cost around $65-70. Plus it has a TooManyToys 58mm overdrive pulley on it so I wouldn't mind keeping that around.

 

Rock Auto has the 110 amp for $177 and some change so probably right around $200 with shipping and sales tax. About $20 more than the 140 amp large case one interestingly. An acceptable solution as well I suppose other than I was not happy with how well the one they sent me was packaged...even had scuff marks and scratches on the pulley face which I doubt happened in shipping. That's one thing I really dislike about buying stuff online is how big of a PITA it is to send back stuff that's damaged, incorrect or whatever, and then you're often getting dinged extra for return packaging and shipping and sometimes even restocking fees. Not to mention when the delivery driver leaves your package outside in a rainstorm or to get stolen sitting on your doorstep while you're at work. It's great as long as everything goes perfectly and borderline rage inducing when it doesn't.

 

@Brandonpdx , be sure to utilize the 5% off coupon provided to us by Rock Auto in the vendor section if you go that route for the 110A. See link below for direct access to the code.

Link: RockAuto.com Discount Code - Expires October 19, 2022