Nate;

Upgrading to an Alt capable of putting out 60A means that the charging system will actually have plenty of output which will allow keeping the battery charged (in addition to giving you white headlights, vigorous wipers and a full-speed blower...at the SAME TIME even!!), as opposed to just being able to charge the battery when your at highway RPMs, and the rest of the time, like around town, just marginally keeping up with the vehicle loads...

I do recommend a couple of specific alts. as part of the upgrade Tony referred to (see link for details), and they are the official AC-Delco quality rebuilt units, as opposed to the "rebuilt" units (of questionable quality) available for $40...which you will likely be replacing within a year...

FYI installing a "one-wire" type means the AMP indicator will not work anymore...so I recommend the standard "Three-Wire" installation...

Tony;

Thanks for the referral!

Cheers