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

[onebadmonte 235]

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.

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.

[Ohjay 116]

Glad you got it on, way now

[S.DeYoung 968]

Amazing review and even more amazing ingenuity on your part!

[sefugi 166]

Awesome step by step rewrite of the installation instructions!!! It is easy to assume that when we purchase a fairly high dollar item that it will fit with no problems. I guess that's the price we pay for wanting Excellent work overcoming the obstacles this install presented and for sharing your solutions!!

[onebadmonte 235]

Glad you got it on, way now

That's what I'm talkin' about.

Amazing review and even more amazing ingenuity on your part!

Thanks.

Awesome step by step rewrite of the installation instructions!!! It is easy to assume that when we purchase a fairly high dollar item that it will fit with no problems. I guess that's the price we pay for wanting Excellent work overcoming the obstacles this install presented and for sharing your solutions!!

Well said my friend. Thanks.

[nem 2,019]

Wow great write up! Nice to see somebody take the time and document in such detail how to make changes to get it to work.

[onebadmonte 235]

Wow great write up! Nice to see somebody take the time and document in such detail how to make changes to get it to work.

Thanks. I figure it's time someone sheds a little light on what a takes to do things at this level, and not just show off their purchasing power (or hook up ablilities. )

[onebadmonte 235]

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.

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

Good Shit Bro. Does yours give that little squeak when it revs up and shifts gears?

House down the street for me is for sale. Just saying.

[sefugi 166]

Good Shit Bro. Does yours give that little squeak when it revs up and shifts gears?

House down the street for me is for sale. Just saying.

Is it a 3br house with a 6 car garage??