Upgrading the Alternator....

Guys I hope this doesnt sound to stupid, but my 97 Tahoe came with the 105 amp alternator, I believe. Can I and what should I upgrade it to? I was thinking at least 125 or maybe upwards of 200. Any suggestions and any recommendations on brands? Are the top of the line alternators at Autozone any good? thanks guys

as long as they are reman and not rebuilt. not sure if 200 amps exists, but there are higher units than the 105 u have.

Bigger Alternator cant be bad for the tahoe can it? I mean it leaves me room for toys if I so want right?

correct. extra amps i not a bad thing. is your current alt on the outs? or do you just want to upgrade.

the best mods i did to my truck were an optima yellow top battery and a duralast EXTREME alternator, the guy at auto zone said that it was 200 amps but he may have been wrong, he broke it down like this- duralast was 130 amps duralast gold was 150 amps and duralast extreme was 200 amps, i did this as i plan to add some major off road lighting in the near future.

Havent had a problem with the alternator yet...But I dont want one either. It looks about 2 years or so old so Im changing it with a higher amp..Think I will get a 150 if available. I can also see that the Optima battery will be a close second after I get the alternator. :smilielol:

140 amp alternator

Was wondering when upgrading to a 140 amp alternator is there anything I should be aware of? Wiring etc.....
Thanks

Any time you upgrade the charging system, you need to upgrade the wiring to handle additional amps. The local electric shop had a 225A alternator in stock that fit my Yukon, and I upgraded the charging wire and added a 200A fuse. The fuse protects from loose wires and high amperage circuits creating arcs just in case.

The wire gauge is determined by the length of the wire, and voltage/amperage going across it. I used 6 gauge for my charging wire as I won't ever pull that many amps, and needed to upgrade for the electric fan conversion I did.

See the chart here: http://assets.bluesea.com/files/resources/newsletter/images/DC_wire_selection_chartlg.jpg

Associated article: https://www.bluesea.com/support/art...oosing_the_Correct_Wire_Size_for_a_DC_Circuit