How much alternator do I really need?
Soon I hope to have my truck and 5th wheel. Since I will be new to 5th wheels I like to get advice about 5th wheels. One thing that I had been told is that I should get a high output alternator, aroun...
Forum Discussion
There is a voltage drop in the charging wire from the trucks batteries / alternator all the way to the trailers batteries. The lower the trailers batteries are, the more current (amps) can be pushed from the alternator to the trailer. Real world 5-30 amps is all that goes to the trailers batteries. If you have lots of lights on the trailer, you can suck up another 10-20 amps there as well. Most any alternator over ~100 amps will be fine when you are running down the road - at idle they put out 5-10% of their rating in most cases. The truck can use most of that with the lights and heater / ac on.
