Questions for those w/ Mean Green alternators

[AKcruiserfreak]

I just installed a Mean Green alt in my 1985 FJ-60 and have a few questions.
Does everyone's alternator contact the thermostat hose so tightly? (see pic) It worries me how hard it contacts the hose as I'm sure it will rub through at some point. The stock alternator is quite a bit smaller than this unit and does not contact the hose. These are some sort of aftermarket hose the po installed. Do the Toyota ones tuck in a little better?

Also, I installed the supplied "spacer" i.e. 4 washers to the back of the alt. but it looks like I could still go forward about an 1/8" for the belt to line up perfectly. Grrrr!

The suppied tensioner arm is obviously not as good as stock, but seems to hold tension fine. This thing was a BEAR to get the belt hooked up! They were not joking about it being a bit difficult to get it on the pulley.

Any thoughts or comments are appreciated. I'm hoping a stock Toyota hose will clear the alternator a little better, otherwise I'm not sure what I'll do.

Thanks
TK

 

[norsk]

that is tighter than mine. I will get some pics during daylight and attach

dougbert

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

that is tighter than mine. I will get some pics during daylight and attach

dougbert

That would be awesome!

Thanks
TK

 

[John McVicker]

As a thought, it looks like you have room to use a longer alt belt. This would move the alt farther away from the hose.

John

 

[klinetime574]

That NAPA hose is right on the money (matches the OEM molded hose)

Longer belt sounds like a pretty good idea.

I like looking under the hood of other 60's each one is unique

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

As a thought, it looks like you have room to use a longer alt belt. This would move the alt farther away from the hose.

John

Man I'm an idot! Sometimes the obvious eludes me. I'll hit NAPA tomorrow to find a belt a bit longer than 60".

Thanks
TK

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

That NAPA hose is right on the money (matches the OEM molded hose)

Longer belt sounds like a pretty good idea.

I like looking under the hood of other 60's each one is unique

Don't look too close under there,it's a mess.

TK

 

[1911]

Mine doesn't come close to the oil cooler hose, but my hose doesn't have a 90-degree elbow in it. I thought I got it from the dealer, but it's been long enough since I replaced it that I don't remember for sure. EDIT: mine is on a late 40, so it looks like the two-bolt thermostat housing has a different take-off angle for the the oil cooler hose than your four-bolt thermo housing.

It was a little work to get the stock belt on, but it did go on. And I did put all the washers on the back side of the pivot end like yours too. I didn't think the alignment looked perfect, but it's been turning for more than a year and functioning perfectly so far. No more dim lights at idle, even with all the extra accessories I run.

 

[tmonty]

I used a 61" belt on mine & had a machine shop make me a spacer for $10 bucks to get rid of the washers, used a 1" longer bolt too!!

 

[AKcruiserfreak]

Thanks to all those that helped. I picked up a 61" belt today and it now clears the hoses just fine. I wish they made a 60 1/2" belt because I'm near my limit as far as adjusting goes. I also added another washer which alined the belts near perfectly.
It's a little bit hokey as far as I'm concerned, but this thing has finally given me 14 volts even when idling hot! Yay! I never got that with a brand new Toyota unit. It's certainly not as plug and play as Mean Green would like you to believe, but I still think it's worth the cost for peace of mind.

TK

 

[whereswaldo]

Just put a MG in my 60 since the stock alternator was having trouble with a new dual battery setup and a fridge - was about a 5 hour process, not the "5 min" touted on the MG website, granted that included a harbor freight run to look for a hydraulic crimper as the terminal ring on the stock connector did not fit on the threaded MG terminal. We used all 4 spacers and the belt lined up nicely. We put the belt on before the unit was tightened and then used a crowbar to tension the whole thing while the bolts were tightened. Put in a direct connection with 200 amp inline fuse between the MG and the battery as suggested by several other posters. 14+ volts now at idle. Many thanks to all the previous posters and your photos!

 

[joebattle1]

What's the trick for getting the belt tight with the Mean Green. I've owned a MG for a couple years now and feel like I can never get the belt that tight. I've done the crow bar pry against the 2f hang point but I'm right up against that hose there and am afraid of cracking it. Maybe there is no better way.

Oh regarding getting the belt on. I found the trick is to loosen the tensioner on your power steering pump (I have a Saginaw) then slide the belt on. Super easy that way. At least that's how I just did it. I recently pulled my power steering pump for the 150th time to replace the Saginaw that was leaky.