Whining sound started on my 04 shortly after I cleaned the engine. It was the bearing in the alternator. It mosy likely was my fault as I did a lousy job of covering the sensitive areas. Trying to same a few minutes was expensive and at only 59K

 

My alt bearing started singing at about 100,000 miles. I took that as a sign to upgrade with a 160a.

 

how would you go about changing the ALT bearing on my /06 ram 1500 5.7L

 

I sent you a PM and just wanted to clarify here....

99.9% out there don't. They just buy a Reman alternator.
If you've never opened up an alternator before, I would suggest Not doing it. There are parts that will fall out of place unless you know what you are doing. I think the bearings may even be pressed into the casing from the inside??? Eitherway, if you got the alt apart and back together, you'd still have to "match" up the bearing at your local NAPA to find a suitable replacement. Most places only sell full rebuild kit not just the bearings and it's hard to get a part number on one to just purchase.

 

I noticed a whine in the front of my 5.7 at around 100 000 as well, figuring it was the alternator i had a new one put on, but the whine was still there, ended up being an idler pulley, replaced and problem solved!