Crazy alternator idea. . .

[idM1028]

When I had GEN2 rebuilt the other day, among other interesting things, the old coot (and I use that as a term of admiration) who rebuilt it let me in on something interesting: He claimed that I could take the red wire from the plug on the alts (which always recieves voltage) and attach it to the positive stud on the alt (which also always recieves voltage via the red main wire) and the alt would work just fine. He said the idea had oc urred to him from the work he had done with “single-wire tractor alternators.” At first I thought it would never work, but the more I thought about it, the more I didn't see why it wouldn't. Anybody ever try this? What's the jury's verdict?

 

[cucv1833]

I dont understand why? Whats wrong with 2 rebuilt alternators and the wiring in stock form? Can you enlighten on why you want to do this.

 

[robert c neth]

thats been done for years on hot rods several articles on that in rod and custom mag and 4 wheeler mag.when i bought my latest m35 it had a 24 volt alt and the 2 wires on internal regulator were just jumped across.it has been working fine probably because the deuce shuts down all power when off.i dont know if i would change factory wiring though.

 

[Barrman]

Yes, that works great. However, because the CUCV alternators need to know what is going on with their battery and sometimes with the other battery. Leaving the system stock is the best choice.

Now, if you have anything else besides a CUCV. Go for it. I have done that many times on different vehicles over the years.

 

[idM1028]

Not saying I'd try it necessarily, but I'm not a big fan of the way the electrical systems on the CUCV's are set up (even in stock form) I'm willing to try anything that will make it a little more robust and "bulletproof." Think about it like this, if I were to do this, not only would it likely reduce resistance and allow the electrical system to work a little easier, but it would also make tracing wires a lot easier. If the red wire on the plug isn't getting voltage, instead of having to trace the circuit all the way back to who-knows-where, I could simply trace it to the red main wire, saving me a lot of time and effort.

 

[Barrman]

That is true. However, then you will have an experimental wiring system that nobody but you will know how it operates. Making it so none of us here will be able to help with any future wiring problems, reducing resale value and who knows what will happen when you try to slave another truck or get slaved.

It is your truck so do what you wish.

 

[idM1028]

This is also true. But I've even thought about converting the truck over to 12V and pasting the wiring diagrams from the TM into paint and redoing them to reflect the changes that were made. As far as slaving the truck, I've honestly never even seen a slave cable outside a military post and even then, they were usually kept in the motor pool. From what I've seen, the trucks usually kill the front battery and when they do you can just jump that one like you would a regular ol' civilain vehicle, no problem. I have done this many times. Worst comes to worse, I keep a pair of cheapie batteries (as well as jumper cables) in the truck. I had the batteries charged up probably less than a week ago. I can use them to jump the batteries in the truck or if the s*** REALLY hits the fan, I can drop them into the truck and keep on going.