Honda Ridgeline...the toughest truck

x2^
Okay, I'm a former Ridgeline owner. I really liked it. Very solid. NO REAR SPRING TSB! 4x8 plywood fits flat in the bed. Why do I now have a Tacoma? While towing a travel trailer it would hunt gears constantly. There's no way to lockout 5th gear, you can drop it down to 3rd but above that it's "D" for Drive only. When I questioned Honda about this the official statement was "Honda doesn't recommend towing it 5th gear" Oh, and these aren't big sellers, It's been borderline on the chopping block, barely selling enough to keep it in production. Tacomas out sell Ridgelines by more than 10 to 1. So stop whinning.

 

Kid I went to the Fab School with had a buddy that worked on that monstrosity. It won in the "experimental class". I always took that as a fancy way of saying, "It was so shitty we had to completely rebuild it from the ground up to make it work".

But hey ...whaddoo I know?

Edit to add: When this POS first came out, Petersen's or some other mag took it on a test drive and I'll never forget the pic of the rear tire hanging, unflexed, above a couple inches worth of a pot hole. No suspension flex whatsoever. I always considered this awful thing as basically a station wagon that doesn't make you feel like you're driving a station wagon.

 

I'd still rock it regardless.

 

My buddy has one, and for what it is, I like it. He uses it all the time for firewood and Home Depot runs. We both drove to Canada this past summer, I towed the single jet ski trailer and he towed the double jet ski trailer without any issues. They are nice vehicles. But no, I do not consider it a truck...to me it's an SUV.

 

I thought of it as a SUT. One day I found mouse droppings in the bed trunk.

 

Nice! Hahaha...the trunk is pretty sweet actually.

And being able to lay plywood/drywall flat across the bed instead of on top the wheel wells is really nice too. But the payload in the Ridgeline isn't very good.

 

Ridgeline Total Payload Capacity [FONT=Univers 45 Light,Univers 45 Light][FONT=Univers 45 Light,Univers 45 Light](lbs)[/FONT][/FONT]:
1546 (RT/RTS), 1497 (RTL), 1486 (RTL w/Navi)

 

I guess I said that incorrectly. The payload on paper is nice. But in actuality, they don't handle more than 500 lbs very well.

 

It really is a nice minivan with a bed. Everything positive I've read on here has only reenforced that. Oh, you can hold so many people, oh it has climate control etc. etc. But for literal TRUCK uses, it doesn't work. It is a minivan with a bed.

 

My boss bought one to replace his beat up Ford Expedition when it finally gave up the ghost. I drive it on a daily basis and like it for what it is. It is a nice compromise between truck and suv, which works well for him when he needs to take his younger kids in the car or when we need to haul a 3000lb pallet of billet aluminum to our machine shop. I have yet to drive a Tacoma yet, so no comparison in that area, but I do like it overall.

Toughest truck? Oh hell no

Say what you want about the in bed trunk, but with some prior proper planning its quite useful...

 

lmao! this is the first time i catch this thread but i read a review a few years back saying the RIDGLINE is a truck for Panzees! thats what has always stuck in my head ever since and yes the taco should've been on the list and well ranked too!!! idiots i tell ya!

 

might i add their CUTE! lmao!

 

Honda ridgeline = minivan with the back cut off!!!

 

I really need to get a shot of that KM2 Ridgeline.

See if I can find it today.

 

unit body is better than a rotted taco frame after a year

 

Huh? My truck is 4.5 years old, I also live near the ocean and I have zero rust on my truck.

 

thats good to hear because here in new england they and the tundras are getting recalled u go behind the dealership and see mountains of rotted frames

 

and your Ridgeline exhaust plays happy fairy land music and shoot rainbows right??

If you are here to dig up old threads and troll the board...Your stay will be short.

 

i went to test drive 2012 taco and when i sat in it my knees were at my ears the tilt steering only moves a inch up the doors an tail gate r about as beffy as the corolla and the 4.0 is loud nice dependable truck but they lack storage and r small i am only 5.7 they both r homeowner trucks that tow and haul the same they both r dependable but to say there better cause of the frame come on the crush points on the frame it self will make it twist ever so slightly if you went off road hard

 

I've driven lots of ridge lines. I wouldn't really consider it a truck. More of a odyssey with a box...