Additional SEMA 2024 reporting

[toddz69]

So as to not pollute @904Bronco's thread, I figured I'd create my own here with some photos and thoughts from the show this year. I'm sure @Broncobowsher will have some thoughts to share as well when he has a moment to post.

I did a quick count this week and I think this is my 26th SEMA show. I started attending in 1998 when I would do reports on the EBML/EBE/Broncofix mailing lists. My, how time files and times change. Amazingly, I still get excited to go every year. There's something about all these car nuts being together in one place every year and "taking the pulse" of the auto/aftermarket industry that gives me life, even if it tires me out (28K+ steps yesterday alone - over 10 miles of walking).

This year saw the return of more EBs to the show.....last year I think there were 3 in the whole show, which is about what we expected back in the early 00's. I guess I'll be able to tell how many were there this year but my postings but offhand I'd guess there were 8-10 or more this year.

Leed Brakes is introducing a new drum brake hub, which seems like an odd thing to reproduce until you realize that a lot of the aftermarket brake companies (Leed, Wilwood, etc.) use drum hubs for their conversions. Holley had a new Ford front dress setup for small block Fords on display this year. I saw it had a GM TC power steering pump but I'm not sure of the origins of the alternator or AC compressor. I could also not see exactly how the water pump is differentiated from the front cover. It all seemed to be one piece. In any case, it's another option for those interested. United Pacific also had a dash bezel surround as a "new part" this year. That's a part that's been out from a lot of manufacturers for years now.

Kiesha Foulds' truck was here at SEMA this year. She did a fantastic job rebuilding it and it was great to see her, and the truck here this year.

The "Pure" Bronco was built on a Kincer chassis (chassis of choice for many builds at the show this year). I'm not sure who built it and yes, it's not everyone's taste but it did appear to be well-built.

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

Some photos of Kiesha and her "brag card". Kincer had an electric chassis AND a completed electric truck on display at the show this year.

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

A new Bronco builder showed up at SEMA this year - Alchemy. They're located outside of St. Louis, MO, and their co-CEO, Tyler Clark, told me he's been an EB enthusiast for 25 years and worked for Bronco Hut in CO for many years. Their rigs feature all-steel bodies (Carpenter with metal flares added), 7.3L Megazilla engines, 10R80, electronic transfer case on a Kincer chassis with slightly wider axles than Kincer usually builds. The two door starts at $397K and the 4 doors are in the mid-high $400Ks. They look really well built with lots of neat little features on them.

Another surprise this year was a Chinese vendor with all-new Bronco bodies selling for $13K - with hardtop, painted, delivered to your door. I'm unsure of the base paint package but PPG paint, per their price sheet, adds $2K to the cost. This company posted on some of the Bronco FB pages recently and caused a stir. The grilles and tailgates do not have FORD letters on them. I've had a lot of questions on the fit and finish of this tub and I think it looked pretty good compared to some other aftermarket bodies I've seen. That said - I'll add the caveat that I'm not a paint and body guy so ymmv. I often look for the fit of the grille corners to the front fenders, for example, and other body gaps, and those all looked good to me. The windshield would need some shimming to be parallel to the door's leading window frame edge but I think that's to be expected. They are also offering a soft top (you can kind of see it in the photo). Oh - and 10% off pricing during the SEMA show.

More to come as I have time to unpack and post.

Todd Z.

 

[1969]

Anymore info on the Holley SBF front dress?

 

[toddz69]

Here are two more photos I took of it.

And I found this document online which explains it well.

https://documents.holley.com/d1311fa35632f986d7171dc58b11825401cf9e27.pdf

Todd Z.

 

[1969]

Here are two more photos I took of it.

And I found this document online which explains it well.

https://documents.holley.com/d1311fa35632f986d7171dc58b11825401cf9e27.pdf

Todd Z.

Sure does look compact!

 

[Tricky Dick]

Did you notice if the Coyote 6G ever had the hood popped?

 

[hyghlndr]

Did you notice if the Coyote 6G ever had the hood popped?

They said no to SEMA Bronco but offered private shop tour of G6 Coyote Borncos. I think offering 4 stages.

 

[hyghlndr]

Chinese Bronco bodies were better than expected, hope to get better pictures tomorrow. Paint and body is NOT up to my standards other than trail rig.

 

[Tricky Dick]

They said no to SEMA Bronco but offered private shop tour of G6 Coyote Borncos. I think offering 4 stages.

I'd sure like to see how (poorly) it fits in there.

 

[toddz69]

Did you notice if the Coyote 6G ever had the hood popped?

The Coyote 6G Bronco on display only has a 2.3 under the hood .

Todd Z.

 

[tasker]

The Coyote 6G Bronco on display only has a 2.3 under the hood .

Todd Z.

DAMN SEMA deadlines!!!

 

[904Bronco]

Todd Z, good seeing you. I have no problem if you wanted to pollute my thread, it's all about sharing the information with CB.
I haven't had the time to investigate everything at SEMA that I have seen. I have spent more time in the MDL booth talking with folks and answering questions. One more day and I get to drive home! Thanks for your reports!

 

[Broncobowsher]

Just rolled into the driveway about an hour ago, back in front of a keyboard.

Leed brakes look good. All wear parts are off the shelf with only the center bore of the rotor needing to be opened up. Calipers are early '00s F150 parts. Rears are going with a different idea. The rotors (forgot to ask the source) go on the axles. GM metric park brake calipers are used with there brackets. All the same for all axles. There are a couple different adaptors/spacers to fit the different bearing sizes and axle offsets.

The china body looked good, but unsure how much fluff and buff there was for a trade show. It had a nice paint job after all. $13k for either the Bronco or FJ body. Lead time was about 30 days.

Speaking of lead time, Advance Adaptors has the Atlas back into the couple of weeks and not the better part of a year to get one.

Harrop has a nice screw intercooled screw blower for the 302 and 351. A little tall, but nice stuff. It is a front breather, not top. That should help with packaging. Also have one for the 7.3 for those that just have to have more.

I had a long talk with Karl with US Shift. Lot of history and back story. The 10R80 that was promised years ago. Well it was 2018 I last talked with him and he had just got the car to drive with the 10 speed. We still don't have the 10 speed controller. He just never could get it to shift right. In the end he spend the past 6 years designing a completely new controller to handle the 10 speed. Early next year. Yes, we should finally be getting the stand alone 10R80 controller in early 2025. So if you are thinking of going the 10R80 route but not sure about a controller, early next year. Next projects are the 6R140 and 10R140 transmissions. There is a lot more back story I know of that I am not going to bore everyone with.

As Todd mentioned, lots of Broncos. There is even a used one. Forgot the booth, but it was 4-linked in back and looked funky as I walked up as the right rear tire was too far back in the wheel opening. The paint on the tie rod was all stone chipped to death. Was sitting on coil overs on all 4 corners. High pinion on the front with an extra long track bar. Front was 3-linked and the brackets are still there but it is 4-linked now. Back had some old shock/coil over brackets that were no longer in use. This was no show queen. It was a rig that is driven and just happens to be at the show. Final touch, right front axle seal was leaking gear oil onto the carpet.
There were a couple with heim steering that were not cotter pinned. Don't like that. I had the bolt fall out of the right knuckle at highway speed once. Only time I ever lost steering and went into the ditch. Wasn't even a nylock.

It didn't feel as crowded, but there is a whole extra hall now as well. So my group was deducting that the crowd was a normal size, just more dispersed.

Optima is coming out with a line of Lithium starting batteries. Didn't get as much detail as I wanted. By the time I got there, all the flyers were gone and trying to talk to the rep was difficult as it was next to the announcer in whatever Optima track activities were going on at the end of the day. No indoor booth.

Tremec has some nice EV motors now. They look way better than what is currently being used in the EV Bronco conversions. Looks like an OEM transmission in appearance and packaging, but has the motor built in. They had one in a Jeep chassis with a transfer case bolted to the back. 495HP. 800V architecture.

There is a German drive over hoist I would like to have, but not at the price.

Back in '21 the new Bronco was the vehicle to build for attention at your booth, they were everywhere. It was also the last year I was there. This year there were endless cybertrucks. The funny part, they drew zero attention. I'm sure they were looking at them when they came out and thinking everyone is looking at these, great SEMA truck. Trouble is everyone has seen the rolling stainless dumpster with a wrap on it and nobody cares anymore. The bubble burst too soon to be effective marketing.

Superlift had a sweet vintage '79 F150 with period custom paint. And something I have never seen before, stained glass tail lamps and side marker covers. Matching the style of the paint. They were putting on a set of turbine wheels while I was there, with a twist. And ever so slight spiral twist to the turbines. Just enough, not over the top.

Roof top tents everywhere. Most were hard top. ARB was showing off a new trailer. Mid $40k. Exo-frame with panes filling in between the frame work. Looked well done. Coming mid-next year. They are trying to figure how to distribute something that large and deal with VINs and titles.

All that in a day and a half at the show. Was so happy to get out first thing this morning. Found a new brewing company that has a personal touch with me. Able Baker brewing company. July 1946 is the relevant dates. In July of 2024 I was looking over what Baker had done 78 years prior.

 

[toddz69]

Here's the stained glass marker lights that @Broncobowsher was mentioning. A friend saw them and sent me back to take closeup photos of them . And there was also a surprise under the hood.

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

This was a Bronco built by Vini's Hot Rods in Birmingham, AL. The metalwork and quality of the build was fantastic. @nvrstuk has volunteered to move the rear axle back an inch for them .

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

A Bronco in the United Pacific parts booth and Felipe Ibarra's "Orange Crush" Bronco - which was a Bronco Driver magazine giveaway years ago. Felipe also had a Bronco in the SEMA Show last year.

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

Nice looking trail truck in the US Shift booth built by CBM Designs. I had a nice long chat with Josh from Performance Adapters who explained his 6R80 adapter. He knows the shortcomings of the other ones on the market and has addressed them with his design(uses a Chevy starter). I believe the red one is the truck @Broncobowsher mentioned - it has 4 links front and rear. I believe it was in the Mile Marker booth.

Todd Z.

 

[toddz69]

A pic of the new Optima Lithium battery. They now say "Optima by Clarios" on them - haven't researched if Optima is now owned by another company (other than Johnson Controls) or not. And finally, you always see a few celebrities at SEMA and so I present a few that I saw this year: Jay Leno, Peter Brock (Craig Jackson of Barrett-Jackson in the background) and Chip Foose. And if you've ever wondered what @904Bronco looks like, he's the handsome devil in the center of the first photo - flanked by yours truly and Cliff Brumfield - a 78-79 Bronco guru and the soon-to-be owner of the Bronco Talk podcast.

Your faithful reporter,
Todd Z.

 

[bfoldy]

I always enjoy reading these. Thanks for taking the time to share the info, guys.


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