Thread: Tuff Stuff Alternators!

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I am in great need of a new alternator for my 80 El Camino with the original 4.4 Liter 267 V8 (same dimensions as a 350). For some reason the vehicle keeps blowing headlights ( Silvania Silverstars) and I noticed when I turn the heater on high it is throwing over 35 Volts to the headlights which in turn is blowing them. I believe it has something to do with the regulator on the alternator but not sure and going to just throw a new one on.

Has anyone here used Tuff Stuff brand alternators and have good luck with them? I seem to have bad luck with faulty alternators out of the box or only a few months down the road and tired of it. Here is the one I am looking at: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFF-7127NI/
I know I can have a shop build me one but I am not aware of any local shops who do this kind of work so have to take my chances on buying brand new and going with a 100 Amp part.

Thanks a lot in advance for any info guys!

Originally Posted by FMXhellraiser

Has anyone here used Tuff Stuff brand alternators and have good luck with them? I seem to have bad luck with faulty alternators out of the box or only a few months down the road and tired of it. Here is the one I am looking at: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TFF-7127NI/
I

Their website says "Made in the USA" - but sometimes that just ain't so and what they should say is "Assembled in the USA" instead. They do have lots of product though: http://www.tuffstuffperformance.com/index.cfm. Myself, I have a Powermaster 10SI 1 or 3 wire on my car - but they are somewhat (lots) more expensive

I went through a bunch of rebuilt starters and alternators on a previous car - that is until I 'bellied' up the extra bucks for new ones.

I have a Powermaster chrome 1 wire on my 55 & a Tuff stuff 3 wire on my roadster (black powdercoat)
Both are great alternators.

Where I work we sell quite a few Tuffstuff parts and very few of them come back. I wouldn't hesitate to put on my own vehicles.

Tuff Stuff makes a very good product line. I would not hesitate to use their parts.

I've run a tough stuff alt for over 10 yrs. It's a one wire, and never
any trouble

Before trying another alternator I would make sure that you don't have a wiring problem and the heater circuit is the first place I'd check.

Thanks for all the info guys. I decided to just buy a new alternator anyways. It seemed to do the job because I have not blown a single headlight tonight. I decided to go with the black powdercoat one with the chrome fan and pulley (I do not care for chrome but it's all they had). It looks great and seems to be charging just fine. Seems to be a MUCH better quality piece than the junk I had in it before.
I will keep my old one to rebuild and keep it for parts in case I need an emergency one on the side. One problem down, a few more to go along with finding some Vortec heads now to complete my 355 build.