99 Alternator upgrade questions

Well time has come for me to do some electrical changes. Im about to install 2 amps that will draw about 160 amps combined. I am going to be purchasing a warn 9.5Ti in the next few months as well. I am also planning on getting a Optima yellow top to try and cope with some of that. I know stock cherokee alternators run 90 amps but the 99+ ones are different. Do they also draw 90 amps as well? What would be a good upgrade alternator to buy? I was thinking the mean green but will that work in a 99? Also I just got 30 feet of 0 guage and a bunch of 4 guage and am rewiring everything. What amp fuse should I get to replace that one inline from the factory?

Thanks,
Nick

NickThePyro said:

Well time has come for me to do some electrical changes. Im about to install 2 amps that will draw about 160 amps combined. I am going to be purchasing a warn 9.5Ti in the next few months as well. I am also planning on getting a Optima yellow top to try and cope with some of that. I know stock cherokee alternators run 90 amps but the 99+ ones are different. Do they also draw 90 amps as well? What would be a good upgrade alternator to buy? I was thinking the mean green but will that work in a 99? Also I just got 30 feet of 0 guage and a bunch of 4 guage and am rewiring everything. What amp fuse should I get to replace that one inline from the factory?

Thanks,
Nick

Click to expand...

Good thing I already had this book out for some other questions...

2001XJ 4.0L - 117A ND
1999-2000XJ 4.0L - 117A ND
1991-1998XJ 4.0L - 90A ND
1987-1990XJ 4.0L - 61/85/100A CS-130

The ND was used 1991-up, and I believe the case size was increased slightly for the 117A rotor in 1999. This should make the Durango (136A) or WJ (136A, look for the 287ci V8) easier - but you'll probably still have to grind the mounting point on the engine. The 136A ND was also used in the 1998XJ 360ci V8. (NB: the 1999-2000WJ 287ci V8 could come with either the Bosch or the ND alternator - make sure you get the ND. They're easy to tell apart visually.)

Possible Durango donors:
2004 w/226ci V6 - 160A! (May require extensive modification to mount)
1998-1999 w/238ci V6 - 136A
2001-2002 w/287ci V8 - 160A! (Same caveat)
2000 w/287ci V8 (Avoid Bosch unit. ND may be 136A or 117A)
1998-2000 w/318ci V8 (All ND. May be 90A/117A/136A)
2004-2005 w/345ci Hemi V8 - 160A!
1998-2003 w/360ci V8 - 90A/117A/136A/160A!

Looks like some of the later Dakotas may also be useful donors, but I haven't checked as of yet.

If you've got the coin to blow, MG isn't bad. There are a couple of other outfits - I believe one is called National or Nations (looks like they do for SAR/Emergency vehicles, but I've no reports from the field as yet,) and you can check with local shops as well. If you can't find one locally, you can use the shop I've been using for years - information for him is on my site. You'll deal with him directly, and he does keep banker's hours (he's a two-man band, I'm just one. But, he runs a shop and I work out of the house.)

0AWG is going to be overkill for what you're doing - but I use 1AWG for my kits, and it's overkill as well. Save your 4AWG for wiring secondary distribution and high-draw circuits - especially if you're planning to go over 150A. Keep your heavy-gage wiring as short as possible.

NB: If you're going to remove your OEM alternator output lead, you will be eliminating an OEM circuit protection device! For your safety and that of your equipment, this should be restored. You can check out my site for ANL fuse kits to do just that.

Oh - and for your amps, I'd suggest adding a couple of 1F caps to your system inline, if you haven't thought of that already. The extra buffering provided by the caps (a sort of "temporary battery" - they charge when they're not needed, and discharge into the amp when they are...) can help take a load off of your battery.

Thanks for the info.

I will defiantly look into those 160A ones you posted. I already looked at your site before I made this topic so I know what you are talking about

I am planning on getting a 1F cap or maybe a Kinetik KHC1800 power supply one day.

And would 0 gauge be bad to use? Is too much over kill going to do bad? I have more than enough 0 gauge.

NickThePyro said:

And would 0 gauge be bad to use? Is too much over kill going to do bad? I have more than enough 0 gauge.

Click to expand...

Not at all. May be a little more difficult to handle, but that's about it (I've worked with cable up to 0000AWG, and that stuff is about as flexible as an arm...) "Overkill" as an engineering principle isn't misplaced - it can be quite useful at times. You still have to compromise between "Pure Overkill" and "daily service," but that's easier than the compromises made for "Planned Obsolescence" or "Designing In Failure."

5-90 said:

Not at all. May be a little more difficult to handle, but that's about it (I've worked with cable up to 0000AWG, and that stuff is about as flexible as an arm...) "Overkill" as an engineering principle isn't misplaced - it can be quite useful at times. You still have to compromise between "Pure Overkill" and "daily service," but that's easier than the compromises made for "Planned Obsolescence" or "Designing In Failure."

Click to expand...

okay cool :yelclap:

5-90 said:

1998XJ 360ci V8. (NB: the 1999-2000WJ 287ci V8 could come with either the Bosch or the ND alternator - make sure you get the ND. They're easy to tell apart visually.)

Click to expand...

Am I misreading that, or does that say that 98 XJs came with 360 V8s?

he meant ZJ. It was the 5.9L (fastest SUV until the Cayenne came out)

XJ98Jeep said:

Am I misreading that, or does that say that 98 XJs came with 360 V8s?

Click to expand...

Gah. Yeah - I meant ZJ.

If there was a factory 360ci XJ, I certainly haven't heard about it (and I want one! It will fill the gap until I figure out how to wedge a 426 Hemi in there, just for giggles. Although that will be tougher than a 401AMC...)

Why not step up to the 527 hemi?

XJ98Jeep said:

Why not step up to the 527 hemi?

Click to expand...

527 = Modern Crate.
426 = Muscle Legend.

Honestly, I'm just nuts enough that I think a run of Big-Block-powered XJ's would be cool - say, 428 Ford, 454 Chevvy, and 426 Hemi. Throw in an AMC 401 just to round things out (AMC didn't have "big block" or "small block" engines per se - all of the Gen-III castings were the same, with different bore/stroke combinations.)

Be one Hell of a project, no?

srt8 jeep grand cherokee is the fastest suv out there faster then the porsche one

Mtb Jak said:

srt8 jeep grand cherokee is the fastest suv out there faster then the porsche one

Click to expand...

Yeah, but I'm building a truck the way trucks are meant to be built. I don't want to make it fast - I'd rather be able to get out a chain and either pull a hundred-year-old oak tree, or just break the damned chain doing it.

If I want fast, I'll build a Mustang, Camaro, or an old 'Cuda.

(Besides, I don't count Porsche as a "maker of SUVs" anyhow - Volvo can lay a better claim to being a truck maker, since they make heavy trucks. A "Porsche truck" is just wrong on so many levels...)