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

[onebadmonte]

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

Not long at all. The bracket was readily available and in stock at the time that I ordered.

[dsktim]

OK if it was in stock then i understand. I ordered mine back in Sept 2010 for 4.3l jimmy. I hope when i do get it that its a much easier install then what you went through lol once again nice work with simple tools.

[bmph8er]

glad my triple mount was easier then this. mine was a cake walk very very easy

[BassJunkie]

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

Its a custom 4 alt bracket, if you expected this thing to go in without a hitch you were wrongly mistaking. If it went in without a hitch everyone and their brother would be throwing this thing in their truck with 4 junkyard alts. This is a completely custom application, this bracket fits on many different models that house the same motor, this is a bracket designed and built by one guy...I highly doubt he has the extra cash flow from a couple hundred dollar bracket to go out and make instruction manuals for every make an model this unit fits. If you're bagging a car it doesn't come with awesome detailed instructions...those businesses still succeed...how detailed was the last instruction manual with your computer..Just sayin.

[onebadmonte]

Its a custom 4 alt bracket, if you expected this thing to go in without a hitch you were wrongly mistaking. If it went in without a hitch everyone and their brother would be throwing this thing in their truck with 4 junkyard alts. This is a completely custom application, this bracket fits on many different models that house the same motor, this is a bracket designed and built by one guy...I highly doubt he has the extra cash flow from a couple hundred dollar bracket to go out and make instruction manuals for every make an model this unit fits. If you're bagging a car it doesn't come with awesome detailed instructions...those businesses still succeed...how detailed was the last instruction manual with your computer..Just sayin.

For the money I paid, I did expect this bracket to go on with out a hitch. Unfortunately, I was mistaken, hence this review.

As for everyone and their brother installing this bracket. Isn't that the point of selling a product? To sell as many as you can.

This isn't a universal custom bracket, that will fit everything under the sun with a little work. This is a custom bracket for 99+ GM fullsize trucks and suvs. How different are the trucks from the suvs? I'll tell you. One has a vacuum booster for the master cylinder, the other has a hydro-boost system for the master cylinder. If the ECU has to be moved to make this bracket work it would have been nice to have known that from the get go. If this bracket wasn't intended for vehicles with hydro-boost braking system, it also would have been nice to know. I would have gone ahead with this install with different expectations. It's a real shame having to pay a premium for a bracket with sub par instructions.

If I decide I want to bag my 71 Chevelle I can go with a universal kit from any vendor out of Truckin Magazine or I can go with a direct fit GM A-body kit from Air Ride. You best believe those instructions from Air Ride are going to be detailed, because it's a direct fit kit. The universal kit, not so detailed, because it might work with my Chevelle, but it'll also might work on a Dodge truck.

A computer, you serious? How are you going to compare installing a bracket that goes on with 11 bolts to the complexities of computer software.

Look, this bracket wasn't just a couple of hundred bucks. It was a few hundred dollars that takes time to earn. Then it takes this much time to figure out how to install. It's bull. If I was installing this bracket for money as a dealer I would have lost my ass on this install. Not only did I have to modify everything that I did, but the holes in the bracket didn't even line up to corresponding holes in the factory bracket, and the hardware was off. Sub-par instructions are one thing, but the quality of the product wasn't even there. If you're okay with this fine, but if you don't, now you know.

[onebadmonte]

Last I left off with was with concerns of belt fitment. Lets recap a bit. This is a shot of the belt tensioner with the factory accessory setup and belt.

Here is a shot of the tensioner with quad alt bracket setup and the supplied belt.

My concern is the tensioner is fully compressed. On top of that I really had to fight the belt on. With a belt this tight it's only a matter of time before the the bearings of one of the accessories goes. I am going to explore two options to remedy this situation. First, and obvious, is get a longer belt. The second option is replace the idler pulleys with smaller ones. Lets take a look at what option one yields.

Option 1 Longer belt:

The kit comes with a very nice Gates Belt. It has an effective diameter of 136-1/2". That's a long belt, but we need a longer one. Unfortunately this is the longest 6 rib belt Gates makes. In comes Dayco. The longest belt Dayco offered is a 137" belt, P/N 5061370 (metric p/n 6PK3480) I tried this belt on with the quad alt setup, this is what I got.

Not bad. Now there is a little slack in the tensioner, not as much as stock, but better than with the original belt the quad alt setup came with. I was able to get the belt on with no drama with this longer Dayco belt.

Now lets explore option 2, smaller pulleys:

The quad alt bracket comes with 77mm idler pulleys. I did a little searching and found some 70mm pulleys from Dayco that would interchange with the ones the quad alt bracket came with. The Dayco P/N for the new pulley is 89144. Dayco does offer a steel version. For those interested it is P/N 89052. I opted for the plastic one because it was in stock at the time I ordered. Here is a side by side of the original pulley (steel) with the new pulley (plastic).

Here is a quick measurement of the backside of the original pulley to the mounting spacer's mounting side.

Here is the same measurement with the new pulley. Looks like a difference of half a millimeter, could be attributed to operator error.

Here is a shot of the bracket assembly with the new idler pulleys.

Here is the bracket assembly with the longer Dayco belt and the new idler pulleys.

The moment of truth, where the idler lands with regards to stock.

Looks like a winner? Not quite, this is what it looked like when I fired up the ol' power plant.

Well hell, I slapped on the original Gates belt the kit came with and this is what I ended up with at idle

So it looks as if you can go with either a longer belt or smaller pulleys but not both. Either option is better than leaving the kit as is. Stay tuned for an update after I put some miles on this kit.

[AMI CUSTOMS]

Last I left off with was with concerns of belt fitment. Lets recap a bit. This is a shot of the belt tensioner with the factory accessory setup and belt.

Here is a shot of the tensioner with quad alt bracket setup and the supplied belt.

My concern is the tensioner is fully compressed. On top of that I really had to fight the belt on. With a belt this tight it's only a matter of time before the the bearings of one of the accessories goes. I am going to explore two options to remedy this situation. First, and obvious, is get a longer belt. The second option is replace the idler pulleys with smaller ones. Lets take a look at what option one yields.

Option 1 Longer belt:

The kit comes with a very nice Gates Belt. It has an effective diameter of 136-1/2". That's a long belt, but we need a longer one. Unfortunately this is the longest 6 rib belt Gates makes. In comes Dayco. The longest belt Dayco offered is a 137" belt, P/N 5061370 (metric p/n 6PK3480) I tried this belt on with the quad alt setup, this is what I got.

Not bad. Now there is a little slack in the tensioner, not as much as stock, but better than with the original belt the quad alt setup came with. I was able to get the belt on with no drama with this longer Dayco belt.

Now lets explore option 2, smaller pulleys:

The quad alt bracket comes with 77mm idler pulleys. I did a little searching and found some 70mm pulleys from Dayco that would interchange with the ones the quad alt bracket came with. The Dayco P/N for the new pulley is 89144. Dayco does offer a steel version. For those interested it is P/N 89052. I opted for the plastic one because it was in stock at the time I ordered. Here is a side by side of the original pulley (steel) with the new pulley (plastic).

Here is a quick measurement of the backside of the original pulley to the mounting spacer's mounting side.

Here is the same measurement with the new pulley. Looks like a difference of half a millimeter, could be attributed to operator error.

Here is a shot of the bracket assembly with the new idler pulleys.

Here is the bracket assembly with the longer Dayco belt and the new idler pulleys.

The moment of truth, where the idler lands with regards to stock.

Looks like a winner? Not quite, this is what it looked like when I fired up the ol' power plant.

Well hell, I slapped on the original Gates belt the kit came with and this is what I ended up with at idle

So it looks as if you can go with either a longer belt or smaller pulleys but not both. Either option is better than leaving the kit as is. Stay tuned for an update after I put some miles on this kit.

Did you happen to take record of the stock accessory drive belt on one alt with the vehicle on or off? Looks like the dayco belt and pulleys might have done the trick. Plus how much belt slip do you have when you rev it or brake torque it? I noticed that with 3 or 4 alts on my truck with same kit as you, I have belt slip and tensioner is maxed out. I think it would only get worse if I had more slack in the belt, but my slip may be caused by misalignment of the bracket as I didn't do any of that bracket fab, add a washer here grind some alum down here stuff that you did, WHICH I may need to if you chime back that you have no belt slip. Mine is worst when I go to pass someone on the highway and rpms go up to like 3.5-4k and then I left off the gas or let it shift hard at 4k+, lotz of belt slip. Also noticed at idle if I rev it my tensioner moves all over the place. OH yeah one other thing, my tensioner is brand new, gates.

[onebadmonte]

Did you happen to take record of the stock accessory drive belt on one alt with the vehicle on or off? Looks like the dayco belt and pulleys might have done the trick. Plus how much belt slip do you have when you rev it or brake torque it? I noticed that with 3 or 4 alts on my truck with same kit as you, I have belt slip and tensioner is maxed out. I think it would only get worse if I had more slack in the belt, but my slip may be caused by misalignment of the bracket as I didn't do any of that bracket fab, add a washer here grind some alum down here stuff that you did, WHICH I may need to if you chime back that you have no belt slip. Mine is worst when I go to pass someone on the highway and rpms go up to like 3.5-4k and then I left off the gas or let it shift hard at 4k+, lotz of belt slip. Also noticed at idle if I rev it my tensioner moves all over the place. OH yeah one other thing, my tensioner is brand new, gates.

I did look at the location of the tensioner with the factory drive both with the engine on and off. The hash marks lined up both ways. As for belt slip, the only time I experienced any is during high rpm shifts. It's just a small squeal no more than a second long. I experienced this both, when I was running the green Gates belt the kit came with and the small Dayco idlers I supplied, and now that I am running the longer Dayco belt and the larger idlers the kit came with. The weight of the rotors in these high output alts carry alot on inertia when you get them spinning. With underdrive pulleys on the alternators extra care needs to be taken not to over rev the alts when driving. No matter how much tension you put on a 6 rib belt and underdriven alt will always slip when rev'd high and the engine speed drops dramatically. With that said, I just recently, driving to a show I had the cruise control on. I came up on a hill and the truck double down shifted and rev'd to 5000rpm and continued to 5500rpm before shifting. Through out all the shifts I only got a small squeal each time. Since I'm still iffy on the whole setup I pulled off to the side just to make sure the belt didn't jump a groove or split in half. Everything checked out fine, not even a hint of burnt rubber. If you have everything apart I'd go through and measure as outlined in this thread. Maybe you'll have to shim like I did, maybe you won't. I can't say I don't now how consistent these kits are. If you have everything together look for rubber shavings. With the pulleys being so close together pulley alignment is very important. This kit puts gobs of belt wrap around each pulley, which is why I was shooting for the same amount of tensioning the factory provided. Too much tension is super hard on all accessory bearings. I get we all strive to keep our rides as drivable as possible, but when going to this extreme our driving habits have to give a little for the sake of keeping everything together. Good luck.

[newls1]

onebadmonte You do very detailed work! im sure your findings on this install, will help a lot of people.. Great work

[trulywickedcustoms]

Anyone had any recent purchases with TEJ? I got a friend wanting to do a quad set up on his silverado, I liked my bracket and had a fairly easy time putting it on... Minor adjustments had to be made but that's expected with something this extreme, ie. Moving the computer, pulling cables and hoses away, and I had to move an ABS component mounted on my frame rail directly under the bottom alt... And also had some grinding to do on factory brackets on the engine

All in all I thought it was easy if you have some mechanical know how