devilman96

Design flaw in the alternators?? If that be the case we would all be yanking them and changing them for something else. Your asking for a tank to take on a afternoon squirrel hunt. Even if there was a "flaw" in the alternators there are tons of different ones that would / could fit the truck but thats not going to fix your issues..

Every truck is different but surplus trucks usually have workable wiring harnesses. There is something in the truck causing the failures your experiencing and its not poor charging design. Yes they can be patched and pieced by those whom know what is going on but sense your saying that electrical is a issue for you changing the harness would proably save you some trouble now and later... Sometime the parting and piecing by the wrong person causes these flaws so take that into consideration too.

By the sound of things I would say someone has crossed or connected the trigger wire to the alternator and managed to hook it up so that its powered even when the switch is off... or is powered in off, but unpowered when on... Ether way its a pretty straight forward problem to solve. (there are few things I can think of that would cause both dead batteries AND a failed alternator at the same time) This would kill the batteries over night and could as well cook the voltage regulator as there is no cooling when it is left sitting idle and connected. (Eastern SHOULD HAVE been bright enough to explane this if you gave them the same info)...

The right path to take on this venture would be to get your truck to someone that knows what they are hacking on... A good "general equipment" mechanic with electrical experience and a wiring diagram would be a safe bet. Being that you are not comfortable with electrical I would have the harness changed (Memphis Equipment $170) to save yourself some future misery, get the alternator repaired at a reputable shop (around $220) and get a set of the right batteries for it... The above is going to cost you far less than what you are thinking of doing and will be trouble free for a long time...