Will my stock alternator be strong enough?

[SocMunky 10+ year member]

The car in question is a 97 Ford Thunderbird. It has a fairly new (less than 2 years old) 130 amp alternator. Optima redtop battery under the hood.I will be running my PG Ti 600.2 and 800.1 off of it. Assume that I have the big 3 done (doing it this weekend or next). Will the stock 130 amp unit provide enough charging to keep up with these amps or should i splurge the money and get a 200 amp unit?

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[dman4486 5,000+ posts]

would be nice to have the 200, but you will survive with 130

 

[n2audio 5,000+ posts]

those are pretty strong alts. I would expect it to work ok unless you have extreme listening habits.

 

[bk12321 10+ year member]

might need to pick up another batt but ur alternator should be fine

 

[jrwalte 10+ year member]

130 should be enough for that wattage. You may find you don't even need a second bat. I'd hook up a voltage meter so you can see what your system is doing while driving.

If you must spend the money that would go towards an HO alt you'd be better off investing it in sound deadening if you haven't already.

 

[SocMunky 10+ year member]

130 should be enough for that wattage. You may find you don't even need a second bat. I'd hook up a voltage meter so you can see what your system is doing while driving.
If you must spend the money that would go towards an HO alt you'd be better off investing it in sound deadening if you haven't already.

Thats basically the thought process I am having. The tbird is fairly well soundproofed, but the trunk is lacking. That being the case the sound from the dual exhaust comes through pretty pronounced. Granted, it's a v8, and it sounds pretty good, but still, this is all about stereo, not exhausts!

So at any rate, thats what I think i will do. Do my big three, deaden the trunk, and see how things fare from there. Thanks!