Ranger Mods

Anyone here tried a re-wound alternator for their Ranger?

We have them done quite often on other vehicles for work and it can make a big difference to the available current at idle. In one application we draw 150A on a Land Cruiser which kills the battery without the upgrade.

I've contacted our usual supplier who is taking a long time to get back to me on the availability of a Ranger compatible unit.

Anyone here tried one already?

I find the current ones are quiet good already.

I can draw 100amp at idle before settling to 60amps at idle which is pretty good. When cold anyway, but it is pretty capable.

Our supplier has responded:

"Yes,we have a 220Amp alternator that does not require the disabling of the Ford ECU charge control. The alternator will maintain the voltage at 14.2V at all times and is still compatible with the OE wiring/computer

$1145.00 + GST"

Yellow line = OEM
Blue line = 220A version

That's actually a huge difference.

Yellow line seems a bit off though and I would say they are nearly equal at idle. I see between 50 to 100 amps at idle when cold if my accessories require it.

What do you plan on running that requires so many amps? Keeping in mind the even a 120ah AGM recommend max charge rate is approx 20ah.

I was considering it as an alternative to a dual battery setup for running a winch. Combined with my other recent idea of high idle to keep the output up.

Its not going to keep up with the winch current draw 100% but will bea lot closer than the standard alternator I would imagine - What's the standard unit put out at full load?

I'm pretty sure they are 110 amp although around the traps people say 140 amp. I cannot find my documentation on the specs but 110 amp does match up with your chart.

How often do you use a winch, does the cost out way the amount of time you use it. Would a quality AGM main battery not be sufficient? Which ever way your idea would still be plausible.

A small note from a Ford manual - "The PCM simultaneously controls and monitors the generator output. When the current consumption is high or the battery is discharged, the PCM raises engine speed as needed to increase generator output."

I was told they are a 140amp alternator

Following up on this, I've been told be an extremely reliable source that the vast majority of Australian Rangers will have a 210A Alternator. There may be some with a 150A alternator but my source was fairly confident they'd never come to Australia.

Other things during that conversation have now put me off the idea of getting a higher output alternator and also cast doubt on the claimed spec provided by the alternator supplier that sent me the graph shown above.