• NAXJA is having its 18th annual March Membership Drive!!!
    Everyone who joins or renews during March will be entered into a drawing!
    More Information - Join/Renew
  • Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Help w/mean green alternator

bbcherokee

NAXJA Forum User
Location
CT
Has anyone installed a Mean Green alternator on a 1996 XJ? Apparently, it's larger than OEM and that prevents it from being bolted in. Any experience with this to make it fit would be appreciated. The alternator is listed for the XJ.
 
try rotating it around, i tried really hard to put mine in upside down, and it wasn't happenin' i rotated it 90 and it was perfect fit, it helps if you hold them side by side and see whats the difference.

make sure you upgrade the positive lead to 4 gauge at least, if not 2 gauge, that will give you the best benefit, no need to make all those amps if they dont make it back to the battery and raise your voltage.

i put a 2 gauge negitive on the alt body, the frame of the truck, and a 2 gauge positive on the stock + terminal on the alt to the + on the battery.

it's called "the big three" in car audio, it really helps stabilize your voltage.
you can google it for more info.
 
the alternator is just larger in diameter, was yours the same size in diameter? If you rotate it 90 degrees how does it line up to bolt in?
 
Last edited:
yeah, it was exactly the same, i bought it like.. 2 years ago? so maybe it's a new design, i'd give em a call.

it didn't line up at all when i was first trying it, i just had it wrong, my jeep was stock height when i was doing it, so i had no space to really see what i was doing, didn't know if you'd have the same problem.

i'd give them a call and read the model number to them, and make sure you did recieve the correct part, and they didn't just ship the wrong part to you. tell them whats going on, and see what they think.
 
I told them about my problem and they confirmed that it's made for my XJ. Looks like I'm stuck, I have a 3" lift but that should't make it tighter for installation.
 
Don't quote me 100% but I thought when I was researching alt. the Mean Green and some other ones required grinding the bracket a little to get it to fit. These higher output ones are slightly larger. FWIW

Good luck.
 
there were two sizes to the factory alternators and brackets. A buddy of mine had the same issue. He compared his MG alternator to his 99 factory one, then to my 01. The MG is the same size as mine, but his was smaller.
 
I had the same issue also. Grinding the bracket worked for me.
 
I upgraded my '96 to a higher output alt as well... the caseing was larger and it took quite a bit of grinding on the mounting bracket (and also a couple places on the new alt) to get it to fit. NOT a direct bolt in swap on all XJs as I was told.

Keep at it and let us know how it turns out. I think I need to upgrade my wiring now that I've seen this post...
 
Would using the bracket from an 01 or whatever ones have the larger alternator to start with work?
 
Back
Top