Often when either an alternator or battery craps out, it will severely stress the other component enough to eventually kill it too, even if it started out in good health.
The only reason I didn't replace my alternator when my factory battery died (7 years in) is that I ordered my truck with a trailer package and heavy-duty everything. So I figured it could stand a bit of excessive charging load for awhile. Otherwise I'd swap out both as a pair and save the price of an 800 dollar tow off the top of a mountain somewhere.
Life gets interesting enough without playing whack-a-mole with electrical parts.
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