Oh, it is what it is, I don't think these fail very often going by the forums. The guys who complain about them are the wheeling crowd who hate that it's down low where it might get waterlogged
I will say the probable cause of mine finally dying was the thick, sludgy coat of oil it had from the valve covers. I really let that go too long, and a lot more oil can come out those than you'd think!
The one thing all the forum guides just didn't show in their images is where the fan shroud was while they removed the alternator. They say things like "move whatever hoses and interferences you need to" so I now assume they all did something like what I did to displace the shroud an inch or two towards the driver side. I just wish they'd specifically mentioned it up front so I could pull the fan and whatnot off while the belt was on, or at least leave myself enough room in the garage to comfortably get the skid plate off. I was able to move the shroud without any of that, but reinstalling it into its tabs at the bottom, by reaching down from the top of the engine compartment and inside the right fender, is a challenge.
Also...wish I'd waited a day to see if I could get an OEM new alternator from Nissan, as I didn't get to reinstall until later anyways. But this remanufactured unit was the only one I could find in town on a Sunday and I needed to be able to move my truck relatively soon. Still need to try the fan belt but I don't think the one I have on there is too old.