Community Forums

GringoPete · 12-02-2021, 07:39 AM

Between my wife and I we own two Hondas, a Ford 1/2 ton, and the TT. All are paid for. The Ford came home first, while qe lived in a rough rural environment. Last of the 5.4 engines before they went to eco's the next model year. Pulls all we need and very sweet. Hondas came later for better gas mileage on more sane roads. It is nice to move between the two Hondas with the same cockpit layout. But one is a car and the other is a crossover, neither can pull our trailer.
So just dreaming... wouldn't it be nice if Honda came out with a 3/4 ton Ridgeline, preferably with duallies? Benefit is that I could move between vehicles without trying to remember where things are, and I could sell one of the lighter Hondas and the Ford, (2 vehicles instead of three)

Every time I talk to the service people about a 3/= Ridgeline with duallies they just chuckle, or try to sell me a Nissan truck. But I think there's a market for this Honda idea! Who's with me?

Old-Biscuit · 12-02-2021, 07:55 AM

Followed a Ridgeline towing a small TT yesterday on I-17N
Well was behind him for about 30 seconds then passed him....he was going 65mph in right lane swaying from one side to other side of lane ---back & forth, not violent just couldn't keep a straight line.

Some vehicles just shouldn't be towing

Now if he had a Nissan Truck...............LOL

bross · 12-02-2021, 08:11 AM

Son and DIL just bought an acreage. He just bought a Ridgeline and loves it. Very practical for what he uses it for, hauling large bags of pellets for his smoker, occasional dump run etc. Plus he can use my F-150 w/ 8' bed *if* he needs to haul anything big, we just hauled 15 sheets of drywall for a basement reno.

He's got 1600lb payload while my F-150 has 1700lb payload so he can *haul* anything he could ever fit in the bed, BUT I would never tow with any unibody. Obviously I don't think Honda wants to join the pickup truck wars.

kdauto · 12-02-2021, 08:20 AM

Honda just does not excel in building heavier, stronger vehicles. Their forté is smaller economy cars with a dose of some sporty-ish cars and some pseudo-SUVs. 4 cylinders are their strong suit, V-6s, eh, not so much. I see nothing spectacular about their larger vehicles.

One thing you can't toy with is wheelbase. Even if you had DRW or TRW (triple rear wheel, hehe) a less than 130" wheelbase is useless for heavy towing. To top it off, they are pretty damn expensive cars for what they are. A base Civic starts at 27k up here. Minivans run 50 to 65k, totally ridiculous.

bross · 12-02-2021, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kdauto

Honda just does not excel in building heavier, stronger vehicles. Their forté is smaller economy cars with a dose of some sporty-ish cars and some pseudo-SUVs. 4 cylinders are their strong suit, V-6s, eh, not so much. I see nothing spectacular about their larger vehicles.

One thing you can't toy with is wheelbase. Even if you had DRW or TRW (triple rear wheel, hehe) a less than 130" wheelbase is useless for heavy towing. To top it off, they are pretty damn expensive cars for what they are. A base Civic starts at 27k up here. Minivans run 50 to 65k, totally ridiculous.

We had an Odyssey during the "kid" years which was great with the 5 kids BUT it did eat it's transmission just out of warranty at 100,000kms which is a known and still is issue with that platform: Ridgeline, Odyssey, Pilot.

BUT Honda did step up and look after us with a brand new transmission fully covered even though we were just out of warranty at 108,000kms.

Honda engines:

Honda transmissions:

not so much.

tuffr2 · 12-02-2021, 08:49 AM

I had a generation 1 Honda Ridgeline - the wheelbase was too short to control the travel trailer I had. I bought a 2011 F-150 5.0 coyote engine. Not only did the F-150 tow great it also got better mpg.

Are you serious about building a Honda Dually??? That makes no sense.

Oh, BTW I had a Honda Accord. It was junk compared to a Mitsubishi I had.

GringoPete · 12-02-2021, 10:55 AM

Like I say, whimsical! Maybe I can get my wife to trade in for a Ford?

I forgot about the unibody engineering

tuffr2 · 12-02-2021, 12:21 PM

Honda could try to build a full sized truck like Toyota and Nissan to start. They could skip building a V8 and go right to a 3.5 turbo truck engine. They already have the 3.5 engine - just add a turbo.

They Honda would need to design and build the frame. They could skip the 'C' channel and go right to a boxed high strength steel frame.

Oh - I worked at the Honda Plant in East Liberty Ohio. They can build a car and make less mess than I do to change oil. That factory was spotless.

twinboat · 12-02-2021, 12:25 PM

I bought the 2019 Ridgeline FWD so I could dolly tow it.

With our Axis MH, we needed more storage and it fits the bill. So would a minivan but I'm not driving one of them.

It rides nice and is good on gas.

We tow a 4000 lb boat with it but only 7 miles to a launch ramp twice a year.

We are waiting on the Hybrid Maverick to come out. They say that's 4 down towable.

vroom_vroom · 12-02-2021, 01:25 PM

https://youtu.be/D-CVbAfJP-Y

Couldn’t resist lol

tuffr2 · 12-02-2021, 01:53 PM

Wow - where did you find this video? I did like the tailgate and the trunk. It was a good city truck that I took to the country. I had it on a powerline road and it did ok. It could drive thru a field. It was difficult to get stuck. I could not get the wheels to spin in the snow. That was a bummer.

Dave Pelletier · 12-02-2021, 04:18 PM

Not a chance; a Ridgeline is a unibody SUV with the hatch cut off. I'd echo Old biscuit's and KD Auto's comments........Honda has no experience in that market and if they did decide to get into the truck market and manage to produce a capable one ton dually pickup, it would be basically the same as a GM, Ford or Ram.

If you need a HD truck, there are already several choices; pick one.

2 cents,
Dave

Toby Dog · 12-04-2021, 04:22 AM

Honda has no need to build such a truck. They are not having any trouble selling product.

tuffr2 · 12-04-2021, 06:58 AM

Honda builds interference engines. That to me is a no no. Sure I bought a Honda and always worried about the timing belt breaking. I had a new tensioner and belt changed per their maintenance schedule but always felt I should have bought a Toyota Camry and not the Honda Accord. My Honda Accord must have been built on a Friday as a lot of things broke on it. Radio, power window, door handle, A/C, Brakes were always an issue, sunroof seal was messed up.

So I am not a fan of Honda.