98 of the Wildest Ford Bronco Builds at SEMA 2022

OPTIMA couldn't have been more excited to see Ford bring back the Bronco and Bronco Sport, since our DH7 YELLOWTOP and DH6 YELLOWTOP batteries are direct-fit upgrades for both trucks. We also know many Bronco owners won't be content to just leave their trucks stock and that was certainly the case for those that we saw at the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas. 

There were also a few vintage Broncos at the SEMA Show and you'll see those in the gallery below as well, but those trucks give us an opportunity to point out a significant difference between those early first generation Broncos and the modern sixth generation Broncos being produced today. If you bought a 1977 Ford Bronco with a 302 cubic-inch V8, you could start it reliably all day long with our Group 35 REDTOP, which weighs in at just under 32 pounds. 

However, if you bought a 2021 Ford Bronco with a 2.3-liter four-cylinder engine, you'd need to run our DH7 YELLOWTOP, which weighs in at more than 60 pounds! So why on earth does an engine that is 54% smaller need a battery that is nearly 91% heavier? It's certainly not about cranking amps, but it is definitely about electrical demand. 

Even if newer Broncos are left completely stock, they are far more demanding from an electrical standpoint than those built 50 years ago. Automakers know this and as a result, they install increasingly larger batteries from the factory. Is their goal to use a battery that out-lasts the warranty term? If it is, you can help extend the lifespan of your battery even further, by keeping it properly-charged with a quality battery charger or maintainer. We recommend doing this once a month, even on vehicles that see regular use, because sometimes the way a vehicle is being used does not allow the vehicle's charging system to maintain proper battery voltage. 

Most batteries are fully-charged at around 12.6 volts, but our YELLOWTOP batteries are fully-charged at about 13.0-13.2 volts. If when charging your battery once a month, you keep finding that it is not fully-charged, you may need to increase the frequency of supplemental charging. If you find that the voltage is where it should be, you can probably stretch those intervals out a little further.

Enough of our yapping about batteries! Check out the crazy Ford Bronco builds below! If you can't get enough of the incredible Broncos from the SEMA Show, take a look at the 2023 SEMA Show Ford Bronco gallery here.