I believe the bearing on my alternator is shot and I am wondering if I should buy from a big box store or if I should buy one from Summit Racing like a Tuff Stuff or Powermaster? This is for a cruiser 318 car and pretty basic. I was thinking like NAPA but, I've heard people have problems with them crapping out every 2 or 3 months. FWI, I already have the amp gauge converted to a voltmeter by Redline. I was thinking something about 60-75 amps should be enough for my purposes. I also see RockAuto has like AC Delco and the likes. Just wondering if one brand is better than the other.

I used a 78 amp reman unit from an '87 Diplomat from Autozone for warranty and ease of exchange if there is a problem.No issues as yet on my '66 Chrysler after some wiring upgrades and amp gauge bypass.I'm not really familiar with the aftermarket alts.

It's the luck of the draw. One NAPA alternator lasted 5000 miles then caught fire. The replacement from NAPA is still running years later.
I say you do what the others are saying and get the mid-80s alternator from a store that promises a lifetime warranty and live with it. There's no reason to slag NAPA, I bought a rebuilt from Advance Auto that was bad right out of the box. Of course they replaced it and that one is doing fine as well.

Name a store and someone on the board will have a horror story. I am convinced that this is the direct result of us consumers shopping for price above everything else. We run the good guys and suppliers out of business and then b!@#$ about the ones that are cheap enough to live.

If I had my druthers I would take a dead alternator to a local rebuilding shop and they'd fix it. Sadly for us Denverites, that shop is gone and a highrise condo sits in its place.

Progress!

R. (feeling old this morning)

We used remans from Advanced for years at the shop.Used NAPAs also.Never really had any problems and most were on cars that were daily drivers.My 65 I used Summits chrome alt.Its been on for 6 years and no problems.It was under 100 bucks.If I didnt want chrome it would be running a reman.Rocky

I'd also use a local reman with a lifetime warranty, for ease of getting a replacement if needed. I got mine from NAPA, it came with this spec sheet. Btw that's alternator RPM not engine RPM in the chart.