tejcurrent quad alt brkt for the masses (99+ GM Fullsize)

[onebadmonte]

Product: 99+ GM Fullsize Quad Alternator Bracket

Manufactured by: Tejcurrent

Purchased/recieved from: Tejcurrent on Sound Solutions Audio forum

These are my thoughts on my trials and tribulations installing the tejcurrent quad alt bracket.

My ride, a 2004 Chevy Suburban 1500 4x4 with a 5.3l V8

This is what comes in the box.

The hardware is good quality stuff. The bracket is nicely finished. The instructions are of the standard

issue variety with some nice color pics. Lets get to the installation.

I read over the instructions a couple of times just to get familiar with the installation process. At the

same time I checked the hardware against the instructions to make sure I got everything needed. A packing

list would have been nice. There were a couple of typos. This one was a little concerning. The

instructions call out for 100mm bolts to mount the alternators, but 90mm bolts were included.

The 90mm bolts work, so no biggie, but still should be addressed by the manufacturer.

Right off the bat the bracket didn't fit. I removed only what the instructions indicated to remove,

and pre-assembled the bracket/alternator assembly as required. When it came to placing the assembly in

the vehicle, disaster. The vehicle ECU interfered with the lower alternator.

From here on out I was on my own. o_o Here's what I did, hope this helps you.

First I removed the fan shroud and the cooling fan. I took out the battery and battery tray. From there I

unmounted the vehicle ECU and temporarily located it to where the battery mounts. With the wiring pushed

back towards the firewall I tried once again to get the assembly in place. No dice, something wasn't

lining up.

I removed the power steering pulley. I unbolted the power steering pump from the factory alternator/power

steering bracket. Not to worry, the power steering pump is still held in place by a steel bracket on the

backside attaching it to the engine block. I proceeded to remove the factory alternator/power steering

pump bracket from the engine. With the factory bracket out of the vehicle I'm able to take some

measurements and see what the deal is with this mofo not fitting. :\

Here is the bracket I removed.

Giving the bracket the evil eye I could not tell if the bosses that the quad alt bracket mounts on are of

equal height. I ran the mounting bolts the quad alt bracket came with through the backside of the factory

alternator/power steering bracket.

With the bolts protruding through, I am now able to measure how much of the bolt extends beyond the boss.

If they all measure the same, the bosses are of equal height. Here is how I measured.

If you're like WTF, a wooden school ruler? Let me explain. I am going to get this bracket going with the

bare minimum. No fancy depth gages, digital micrometers, or CNC mills. Just real simple, real basic

tools, and tons of manual labor. See what I do, learn from what I do. If you got fancy tools, have at it

your way. If you don't have any tools, and have no clue, here is one way to skin this cat.

Back to the measurement. I got 3.5cm for all three mounting bosses. Cool, they're all the same height.

Now to get a quick measurement from the boss to the face of the factory alternator/power steering

bracket.

Here I get about 1.5cm. If your wondering about that little bit I missing since zero on the ruler isn't

on the edge. I consider that bit a constant. Since I will be taking all my measurements with this ruler

it's not going to throw anything off. Obviously the numbers I am using are not absolute, but they are

consistent. That's all I really need, consistent numbers.

Now onto the quad alt bracket. Since the bosses on the factory bracket are recessed from the face, the

quad alt bracket has three spacers welded on to the back side. In theory, these spacers put the backside

of the quad alt bracket in-front of the face of the factory alternator/power steering bracket. Let's see

what my little ruler says.

1.4cm is what I got for all three spacers. That's a difference of 1cm, about a washers thickness.

Therefore I'm going to have to put a washer at each mounting location. No fun, I can hear the washer

falling off the bolt as I try to line everything up.

Now that we have that out of the way let's see how everything lines up, or doesn't. With the bolts still

in through the backside of the factory bracket I added the necessary washers, and then installed the quad

alt bracket. This is what I got.

Two thing here are wrong. First, the hole in the quad alt bracket inside the yellow circle is noted in

the instructions as being 1" in diameter. It measures 5/8". Secondly, that same hole should be lined up

with the hole behind it on the factory bracket, not overlapping it. There is a steel bushing in the

factory bracket that interferes with quad alt bracket because of this hole being undersized and in the

wrong location. The simple fix would be to remove the steel bushing, but there is more to it than just

that. Take a look at this.

The steel bushing in the factory bracket is in a raised boss. This raised boss and the ridge next to it

are keeping the quad alt bracket from properly seating on it's mounting bosses. Here is a better look at

the offending boss on the factory bracket.

First things first, out with the steel bushing. Here's what I used.

Now to remove the offending boss and the little ridge next to it. Check this out.

I basically took a knee, putting all my weight on the foot over the bracket. Then I took a file and with

both hands, filed away till the bish was flat.

Let's take a look at how everything lines up now.

Looking good now. Now just to get the setup to fit in the vehicle.

Here is a shot of the vehicle ECU and it's mounting location. For reference the top of the pic is the

front of the vehicle.

Hit the limit on allowed pics. To be continued.

[onebadmonte]

Part two.

Rivenuts to the rescue. I moved the vehicle ECU about three inches forward in vehicle.

Here is the vehicle ECU in it's new location with the battery tray in place

The next area of concern is the factory power distribution box. It is mounted onto the factory

alternator/power steering bracket, in the exact location that the quad alt bracket mounts the lower

alternator. Here is the little booger in it's original location.

The instructions mention nothing about relocating this little booger, but obviously something has to be

done. I took a closer look at the pics in the instructions and noticed that it is still used, just in a

modified position. With nothing else to go by but just a pic and my ingenuity, this is what I came up

with.

I added a new pair of mounting holes and gave it a slight bend to keep it from hitting the valve cover.

Another shot with the alternator in place.

Alright, now we're in business. Time to test fit the assembly in the vehicle. The bracket went on,

getting the washers in place over the bosses were a pain. A quick visual inspection revealed this.

The return line from the hydro-boost braking system to the power steering pump reservoir was being

pinched by the lower alternator bracket. Fhawk! This is going to be a real bish to fix. First off I

removed the drivers side inner fender, just to get a better view of the area in question. Here is a

close-up of the main offender.

This is a very delicate fix. I am going to bend the fitting straight. o_o True to my word, only simple

tools.

My main concern is cracking the fitting where it meets the reservoir. I did my best to support the

fitting where it meets the reservoir. I used the biggest hex key I could fit in the fitting and slowly

bent the fitting straight a little bend at a time.

I re-installed everything back in for the umpth-teen time. This is what I ended up with regarding the

hydro-boost braking system return line.

Finally, the bish is on.

That belt didn't go on without a fight. Now that's it on, concerns still linger. Here is a pic of the

belt tensioner with the factory accessory driver system. The marks are there for reference.

Here is the tensioner with the new setup.

The belt is tremendously long, so I'm not sure how much if any this belt will stretch. All I can say is

that the tensioner is fully compressed. Unfortunately, the instructions do not mention what the

alternator pulley diameters were used when this bracket was developed. My alternators have undersized

pulleys, as my high output alternators do. :\

The bish is on.

Final thoughts:

The bracket kind of works, the instruction manual sux. Good luck, I'm out.

[Swaggasaur]

Damn dude. Seems like a shtt load of work.

You did hell of a good job.

[ugpbmx]

good job getting it to work man. im very interested on what tejcerrent has to say

[siccostyle]

Damn that is a-lot of work. Nice job though

[BassJunkie]

Instruction manuals always suck...Just sayin.

[onebadmonte]

Damn dude. Seems like a shtt load of work.

You did hell of a good job.

It was, I'm still tired.

good job getting it to work man. im very interested on what tejcerrent has to say

Thanks. As for you're second statement

Damn that is a-lot of work. Nice job though

I figured I better share my experience before someone else takes the plunge thinking this is a simple solution.

Instruction manuals always suck...Just sayin.

Not if you want your business to succeed... Just sayin.

[byers319]

Might as well just made the damn bracket your self while you were at it

[onebadmonte]

Might as well just made the damn bracket your self while you were at it

Somebody feels my pain.

[dsktim]

how long did you have to wait to get your bracket and good job on making that piece of metal work