Upgrading Alternator will Save Money? Now With Curve Charts!

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Wild one

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They're kinda two different things - nearly all modern cars and trucks are PWM at the alternator and all accessory voltage regulators so they're making a decision to kill the field wire 150,000 times per second.

Alternator clutch pulleys and damper pulleys are a one way clutch, or a one way clutch plus torsion spring that allow the alternator to freewheel if they happen to be going faster than the engine (good to let them spin down on auto start/stop vehicles) and also damp their movement a little similar to a harmonic damper on a crankshaft which supposedly extends the life of the drive belt by reducing constant shock loads on them and extends the life of idler pulley bearings & tensioners, and slightly reduces NVH.

I don't know if any of that can also save energy, probably not enough to add up to the $100+ a hypothetical kit would cost... not in a hundred years of driving. I'm sure the #1 reason so many cars have them now is just for quicker/smoother auto stop/start and any other benefits are just freebies.
Show me a one way clutch pulley for the stock Ram 4th Gen alternator?
If i'm reading his post right,he's looking for something to freewheel the alternator under low use situations,which would entail something with an electrical magnetic clutch,or some way to decouple the pulley from the alternators armature shaft,not a 1 way clutch
 
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kurek

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Show me a one way clutch pulley for the stock Ram 4th Gen alternator?
If i'm reading his post right,he's looking for something to freewheel the alternator under low use situations,which would entail something with an electrical magnetic clutch,or some way to decouple the pulley from the alternators armature shaft,not a 1 way clutch

I have no idea what OP wants, I don't think OP has any idea what he wants. He read some thing is cool and now he absolutely definitely wants that thing despite that it won't actually provide him any benefit.

I never said there was an alternator clutch pulley for our trucks, I said
I've never seen a clutch/damper/overrun pulley conversion kit . I've seen kits for going the other way (clutch to solid).

 

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I really don't think that the measurable gain , if you could measure it, would ever be enough to pay for the larger alternator.
 
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Mister Luck

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The clutch pulley has been around since 1997 the decoupler pulley is more recent and more specialized in its most recent incarnation in that it is tuned to the number of cylinders.

A clutch pulley is just a one way drive they are owned by no particular engine but mainly used to reduce parasitic drag and stress on the tensioner pulley and an engines belt drive.

I wouldn’t want anyone to be misguided into thinking there’s a secret application where “tuned”decoupler pulley’s exist for cylinder displacement engines , I actual only discovered Decouplers 2 days ago.

Today I took the time to look at the back of my alternator to see what
I thought had been (in my mind) a 180A
alternator with a 2.7 in (solid) pulley
It turns out my truck has a 160A alternator with a 55mm pulley in other words a 2.16 inch diameter pulley , this is something the specifications don’t cover and probably something borrowed from the other family members of FCA Stellantis. Jeep Dodge Chrysler production that is also assembled in Mexico.?
 
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Mister Luck

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The messed up design of the decoupler pulley is the relative cost I’m pricing some of these pulleys alone mind you at $200.+ low end are $80.+ and some manufacturers don’t sell replacements , they want you to buy and replace it with another alternator, there is a specialized tool for those who offer aftermarket replacements but warn the consumers not to interchange pulley designs or warranties will be voided.
An overdrive pulley is what brought on this discovery of pulley design that I am thankful my truck doesn’t possess.
I think it has to be much more economical to replace idler pulley, tensioner pulley and aux pulley bearings than what is cost for a clutch or decoupler style pulley.
 

Wild one

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The messed up design of the decoupler pulley is the relative cost I’m pricing some of these pulleys alone mind you at $200.+ low end are $80.+ and some manufacturers don’t sell replacements , they want you to buy and replace it with another alternator, there is a specialized tool for those who offer aftermarket replacements but warn the consumers not to interchange pulley designs or warranties will be voided.
An overdrive pulley is what brought on this discovery of pulley design that I am thankful my truck doesn’t possess.
I think it has to be much more economical to replace idler pulley, tensioner pulley and aux pulley bearings than what is cost for a clutch or decoupler style pulle
 
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Mister Luck

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EDIT
Yeah those are vehicle specific Decouplers
OAD if we were to adapt one for our trucks it would be OAP

 
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Rebuilding an alternator might be a better option


This also could be considered preventative maintenance which could save you money considering the price of a new or rebuild alternator .
 
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I believe the reason this and other automotive forums are valuable is because of the exchange of information
If all that is gone with members reluctant or harassed when asking legitimate or answering legitimate questions then we are failing as a community.
For the most part the majority of the members have an understanding of this and are great examples known by their contributions.
 

Wild one

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EDIT
Yeah those are vehicle specific Decouplers
OAD if we were to adapt one for our trucks it would be OAP

Neither are going to gain you any gas milege.They're designed to cancel out NVH more then anything,and maybe take a bit of stress off the belt.I even question how much stress they'd take off the belt on an automatic transmission equipped truck,as the pulley weight is going to be more with either pulley in comparision to a solid pulley.Takes power to accelerate weight,which in turn adds stress to the belt and the rest of the front drive system,and burns more gas. Just upgrade your wiring/grounds,Ram is famous for cutting costs and one place they cut costs and save weight is on the wiring.An afternoon building extra grounds and upgrading the hot feeds won't cost you much,and will probably gain you as much as your hair brained ideas will,lol
 
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Neither are going to gain you any gas milege.They're designed to cancel out NVH more then anything,and maybe take a bit of stress off the belt.I even question how much stress they'd take off the belt on an automatic transmission equipped truck,as the pulley weight is going to be more with either pulley in comparision to a solid pulley.Takes power to accelerate weight,which in turn adds stress to the belt and the rest of the front drive system,and burns more gas. Just upgrade your wiring/grounds,Ram is famous for cutting costs and one place they cut costs and save weight is on the wiring.An afternoon building extra grounds and upgrading the hot feeds won't cost you much,and will probably gain you as much as your hair brained ideas will,lol

You’re pulling my leg or something else if you’re pretending you don’t know donuts about manual flywheels being heavier than an automatic’s flex plate harmonic dampeners and the like who are you trying to impress ?
No seriously I had no idea about how many different pulleys there were besides solid ribbed and v-belts, I know how to replace a battery and change out an alternator I think I have a different learning curve than you so my questions obviously don’t make sense I’m like you as I don’t want to alienate anyone because some people don’t need any help.

I feel sometimes I’m the oldest person in the room the way I need to repeat myself that or no one is bothering to read anything but the title and they get that wrong too but
hey I can’t take myself too seriously the whole world is having a difficult time and not everything is about me.
 
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Wild one

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You’re pulling my leg or something else if you’re pretending you don’t know donuts about manual flywheels being heavier than an automatic’s flex plate harmonic dampeners and the like who are you trying to impress ?
No seriously I had no idea about how many different pulleys there were besides solid ribbed and v-belts, I know how to replace a battery and change out an alternator Inthink Inhave a different learning curve than you so my questions obviously don’t make sense I’m like you as I don’t want to alienate anyone because some people don’t need any help.

I feel sometimes I’m the oldest person in the room the way I need to repeat myself that or no one is bothering to read anything but the title and they get that wrong too but
hey I can’t take myself too seriously the whole world is having a difficult time and not everything is about me.
Just when did we start talking about flywheels.Been around for awhile,and know just a wee bit on how to make things go fast,lol. If you honestly want better milege numbers,learn to drive for milege.Find a round quart container,similiar to an old style oil can,stand it up in the box of your truck,then learn to drive to keep it standing upright,in the same spot.Once you get that figured out,you'll notice a hell'va increase in your gas milege.I easily get 200,000 miles out of a set of brake pads,and routinely pull down 31+mpg out of a 6.4 Challenger,lol
 

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TomB 1269

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You also need to through in the electrical / magnetic field produced as well as it is in resistance to the rotation of the alternator as it spins thru the magnetic field produced to induce current in the conductors.
 
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Mister Luck

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You also need to through in the electrical / magnetic field produced as well as it is in resistance to the rotation of the alternator as it spins thru the magnetic field produced to induce current in the conductors.
That might be true but wouldn’t there be more resistance from the sealed bearing in the alternator besides the weight if the rotor acting as inertia once it reached generating RPM’s

B4861613-D478-4DDF-B86A-56B15D0B0B7C.jpeg
 

Wild one

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That might be true but wouldn’t there be more resistance from the sealed bearing in the alternator besides the weight if the rotor acting as inertia once it reached generating RPM’s

View attachment 483676
Instead of doing an alternator upgrade,get off your ass and upgrade the wiring and grounds.Dodge cheaped out on the wiring to save weight and cost.Why not try the Big 3 upgrade first,instead of arguing about alternators.Only way i know to up alternator output is add windings (more rotating weight) and stronger magnetic field (more drag).The time you've spent on here arguing,you could of upgraded the wiring by now. Go dig around on the other Ram forum,for the old posts on upgrading the wiring,the majority of guys on that thread,said they noticed an increase in gas milege,try it first.But i have the feeling you'd rather argue instead of actually getting off your rear and trying something out,just my 02
 
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Mister Luck

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Instead of doing an alternator upgrade,get off your ass and upgrade the wiring and grounds.Dodge cheaped out on the wiring to save weight and cost.Why not try the Big 3 upgrade first,instead of arguing about alternators.Only way i know to up alternator output is add windings (more rotating weight) and stronger magnetic field (more drag).The time you've spent on here arguing,you could of upgraded the wiring by now. Go dig around on the other Ram forum,for the old posts on upgrading the wiring,the majority of guys on that thread,said they noticed an increase in gas milege,try it first.But i have the feeling you'd rather argue instead of actually getting off your rear and trying something out,just my 02
Thats quite a spin on the whole thread…
I know, I know, you hate when you think others are out procrastinating you , it’s not possible, unless you think I wrote this whole thread myself?
I’m not that ambitious to be mediocre.
No alternators are not a point of contention with me.
I post here on my spare time and I’ve had quite a bit lately but there’s no way I’ll get the post counts (like some members) in the thousands not even in 10 years .

(May I go now Mr. Strickland I’m late for class)
 
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Wild one

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Thats quite a spin on the whole thread…
I know, I know, you hate when you think others are out procrastinating you , it’s not possible, unless you think I wrote this whole thread myself?
I’m not that ambitious to be mediocre.
No alternators are not a point of contention with me.
I post here on my spare time and I’ve had quite a bit lately but there’s no way I’ll get the post counts (like some members) in the thousands not even in 10 years .

(May I go now Mr. Strickland I’m late for class)
Touched a nerve did i,lol. With that rant,i'm guessing i'm closer to the truth then you like,:Big Laugh:.Have a good day sir:cheers:
 
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Mister Luck

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Touched a nerve did i,lol. With that rant,i'm guessing i'm closer to the truth then you like,:Big Laugh:.Have a good day sir:cheers:
Haha
Yeah you got me good, I’m not upset as much as just wondering how someone who post help on threads can at the same time be such a troll? why don’t you start your own thread so we can repay the favor ?
 
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Mister Luck

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Maintenance of components with in electrical system is just as critical as the fuel system or the suspension and braking systems
Replacing rebuilding along with the option to upgrade is all part of that process.

To reiterate
I recently replaced my battery that lasted little over 5 years, and from previous experiences along with personal studies this will be followed before long by other electrical components such as the starter and alternator.

With this thread my intent was to share my experience as well as my learning process, legitimate questions and answers are part of the conversations of this thread. Comments and jokes can make reading this thread less monotonous while keeping the experience enjoyable.
 
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