FWEW!

[Cruisergreg]

I'm glad it didn't happen on the trail Sunday. I had noticed a very slight accessory bearing whine that last couple times I drove the 60, but pretty much dismissed it because stuff often begins to whine as it ages and may go thousands of miles before failing. Yesterday I took the 60 for a Goodwill dropoff. A few miles from my place the whine quickly turned to a growl and then the alternator bearing completely seized and I was stuck in the middle of a traffic lane. If that had happened the day before, especially coming down into Guadalupe canyon, it would have been the toughest recovery yet.

Fortunately yesterday after about 5 minutes some TLCA guys from California in a 4Runner offered a tow so off we went to NAPA where I was able to swap it out.

 

[Beowulf]

That is one of the concerns I have now that my Cruiser is pretty much just a trail truck. If anything goes wrong it will be on the trail or the trip to or from the trail. I try to drive it on weekends to mitigate the risk but those "Cruiser weekends" are about 1x month now.

Is yours a serpentine belt or individual alt belt? Could you have cut off the belt and kept going until the battery died?

-Mike-

 

[Cruisergreg]

Is yours a serpentine belt or individual alt belt? Could you have cut off the belt and kept going until the battery died?

No, it's just one serpentine that drives all the accessories, water pump, etc.