Hill climb

[rednek ridgey]

i noticed the other day that the ridgeline does very well on steep hills....i slowly drove up and stopped for the pic...and when coming back down the truck did very well....im also pleased with performance in mud

[X-Brawn]

Replace the stock all-weather tires for a true all-terrain tire with low noise factors and you'd really be impressed. Some here have done that, along with mild lifts, and rave about the handling and boosted capabilities.

Nice photos!

[louisiana ridgeline]

Nice pics, I like to see people useing their RL's for off road.

[rednek ridgey]

The truck has a 2" lift with Mickey Thompson Baja radial MTX 31"... 265/70-17 it does very well and the noise isnt as bad as u would expect

[jforget1]

Originally Posted by rednek ridgey

The truck has a 2" lift with Mickey Thompson Baja radial MTX 31"... 265/70-17 it does very well and the noise isnt as bad as u would expect

I like the look of those tires, any idea if that size would work with the 2" lift kit?

[sedonaaz]

that is what he has

[jforget1]

my bad I meant to say without the lift kit, I have a stock setup.

[rednek ridgey]

no...i had to take off the front mud flaps and the steel mounting bracket and they still rub when i take a sharp right turn

[theLine]

What about the half shafts and u-joints? I hear that changing the geometry that much by a 2" lift will make the joints wear out sooner and make the boots crack Any comment there?

[zuhl]

Lifts can cause issues. Eating pizza can make you fat. That all may be true, but if you want to do it and you like it then to heck with it. Just be aware that one day you might have to take care of it.

I don't think anyone has ever confirmed boot cracking specifically due to wear from a lift. People with lifts have cracked them either due to off-roading and hitting something or from banging the boot during installation. Just be careful.

LowRider was the only one who has ever commented on actual joint wear. As far as I know he was one of the first on this site with the lift and the pics of his truck were the primary reason I finally bought a Ridgeline. He noted that after he traded it in the dealer told him the jonts had higher wear than normal. Not sure what percentage of the life of his vehicle was spent with the lift. I believe he had quite a few miles on his truck regardless.

I have had my lift on for about 3 months now and I think I would get a different vehicle all together before going back to factory height. It is so much nicer to have those extra few inches of height. Basically it is the height of a Tacoma 4x4 but handles like a sportscar on rails.