Nothing about the alternator is easy!

I would take the black cover off the alternator and see if anything seems amiss - black scorch marks, gobs of magnetic dust from the brushes, ...

Sounds like your brushes are worn, so you should at least replace the VR. If you drain a quart of antifreeze and remove the upper radiator hose, the rear of the alternator can be easily worked on.

Remove the wires. Using a phillips screw driver, remove the black plastic cover. Same screwdriver can remove the VR.

I didn't remove the radiator hose and it took me twice as long as it should have, but the alternator bearings never made any noise so it stayed in place.
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Keeping it running is better than buying new