[bisonp]

This has been a good discussion, and prompted me to join this forum after a couple months of lurking. I'm an F-150 driver that has been long lusted after a Ridgeline, but I'm just not sure this new one is enough.

I have some issues with my F-150 Crew with the 5.4. It was a great truck, perhaps the best vehicle I ever owned...until it wasn't. Anybody who is familiar with F-150s probably knows the story. Within a span of 2 years I've had to put upwards of $5K into it. All the spark plugs busted when changed, both 4x4 IWEs, fuel pump control module, rear end, cam phasers and tensioners. All before hitting 100K. It's an absolute POS, poorly engineered and poorly built, designed to make it through the warranty and who cares after that. Did I mention the seats have numerous stains from...frickin' water?

Resale, though, has been excellent. And it does everything I have ever asked of it and then some. We have 3 kids and really needed that big back seat, especially with me being 6'3"

But now the kids are a bit older and we are down to one car seat and a booster, in a couple years we will be down to one booster. My wife absolutely hates driving it and to be honest I am growing a bit tired of the size day in and day out.

I thought the Colorado was my answer. But the outside dimensions of those really aren't that much smaller than my current truck, yet the interior is. And for some reason GM refuses to put head restraints in for the middle back seat passenger in all their trucks. So they are out.

After my experience with Ford, and reading about the carbon issues and underwhelming mileage on the Ecoboosts, they are all but out. Did I mention I had an Explorer at one time that was also garbage? My mom bought a 2016 Edge and the build quality on that looks to be questionable too. Paint drips, uneven panel gaps, doors you have to slam shut to fully close, etc. I don't think I could bring myself to buy another Ford regardless of how nice they seem on a test drive.

I had a 4Runner before my F-150. Tacoma is too small and outdated, so is the Frontier.

So that leaves me with the Ram and Ridgeline. I like the Ridgeline, but I just feel Honda missed the mark on a few key things. The bed is so shallow I think I'd need to go with a topper to fit my gear in it. And I really don't like that because it makes stuff in the bed visible, there is no locking tailgate, and I like being able to climb up in the bed when loading and unloading. I'd much rather have a deeper bed than that trunk, which should be possible with the unibody construction. I don't like the looks, but that's not a dealbreaker. I'm also leery of the rear suspension. I've seen some pics of the Ridgeline loaded down and I couldn't help but notice that like the Odyssey, when the rear suspension squats the camber is pretty severe; the tires are riding on the inside edge instead of perpendicular to the ground. I've had issues with front tires on rental Ford box vans because of that, and it would make me nervous to try any long-distance drives with larger loads. I'm surprised I never see it mentioned anywhere. And of course getting a few key options you may want in a base Ridgeline is all but impossible.

I'm not in the market for another year or so, but I do want to like the Ridgeline because it would be a much better daily driver yet still enough truck to do what I need. I'd need some convincing at this point though. I'd really like to see a bench seat in front, a midgate like the Avalanche, and a deeper more traditional bed. Perhaps a thousand more pounds or so of towing as well. That would be MY perfect truck.

But I digress. I guess my main point is that if you plan on keeping a truck for more than 3-5 years and the Ridgeline meets your needs, I know what my choice would be.

 

[bisonp]

At what trim level / option level does the F150 offer a full time 4wd / awd system that gives you traction benefits during those moments when you NEED it but haven't deliberately turned on the 4wd system??

Like when the road all of a sudden goes from wet to icy
Like when the road is wet and you need to go from 0-60 super quick to merge onto a busy road
Like when you are at a stop sign on a steep hill with damp leaves under your wheels
Like when you go from unplowed side streets to bare pavement and then back again
Like when you are going quickly around corners in less than ideal traction suitations (torque vectoring)

etc etc etc

The 4X4 in my F150 works ok in winter conditions, except you can't turn very sharp before it starts binding up. Which is very annoying and means I don't use it as much as I probably should. I'm not sure how their auto 4x4 works, I haven't driven one of those in the winter. Good point.

I have used low range on occasion, though I think I could probably live without it and would prefer either AWD or an automatic system.

 

[Ross Swenson]

Interesting thread. We just went through all this decision making and discussion this past week. We bought a Ridgeline RTS-T on Friday, well we bought one that will be arriving next month. Looked at everything it seems. The Tacoma was off the list as soon as I noted it had drum brakes in the rear. That is just plain cheapness showing through. The Colorado was a close second, but there was no price advantage to speak of. I had no interest in a full size truck, so did not do anything but price them on line. That showed me what I needed to know and that they would be more $$$ and more size that I wanted. Had that been different, it would have been a Silverado, not a ford though. Just my opinion of course. Financing was not in the mix either. We liked the fact that it is a 2017 model year, the way it is finished, colors and the fact that the dealer was not pushy or frankly not a arse like we found at Toyota. It will pull anything we will ever have. It is very comfy for the two of us, fits in our garage with room to spare, and is fun to drive. Oh yeah, the Mrs likes it. Everyone has a opinion. That's mine. Forgot one thing. We live in the middle of nowhere and I do not like my wife having to mess with putting 4WD in and out. This system is a huge advancement for making winter driving safer imho.

 

[FTM1]

unless I'm missing something in their brochures, you can't get a heated steering wheel in any other mid-size truck so if that is important to you it will going to limit you to one choice unless you cross shop full size.

Similarly priced and comparably equipped go hand in hand. I sold Hondas part time in the early 90's, and unless there was a specific reason almost everyone looked at both the civic and accord. Even back then a loaded civic or a base accord were about the same price. To some having more room in the backseat was a more important 'feature' than a sunroof and fog lights.

I never took a look at any Civic and Accord in the 90s I had 1990 new Accord and 1994 new Accord and took a look at 1998new Accord but waited and test drove new 1999 3.2TL and got new 00 3.2TL. I might be a little different because I had a new 1980 Prelude to start off with. I wanted more HP features and refinement top of the line model more room.
So base Accord was never on table I wanted power windows and all the goodies but stuck with 5sp manual trans.

 

[bluecatsup]

Provided, the focus is on the Tacoma, but the article speaks in general to why people choose midsize over fullsize. Many people here already have this reason for choosing midsize, but I'll just leave it here anyway for those that haven't read it yet:

Midsize Truck, Big City - 2016 Toyota Tacoma Long-Term Road Test

 

[AG87BlkLX]

The Tacoma was off the list as soon as I noted it had drum brakes in the rear. That is just plain cheapness showing through.

Not that it matters but the old Tacoma out braked Gen1 & the new Tacoma out brakes Gen2.

 

[Geech08]

I read this thread last week and something funny happened yesterday. I was in a parking lot at the bookstore and had the pleasure of watching a new $70k F150 Platinum park. The guy literally went forwards and backwards 7 times in an attempt to fit that beast into the parking spot. A few minutes earlier I had whipped into my parking spot with no problem in one fell swoop.

I got a nice chuckle thinking of how the OP rated parking ease the same between the two.

 

[northernlights]

I read this thread last week and something funny happened yesterday. I was in a parking lot at the bookstore and had the pleasure of watching a new $70k F150 Platinum park. The guy literally went forwards and backwards 7 times in an attempt to fit that beast into the parking spot. A few minutes earlier I had whipped into my parking spot with no problem in one fell swoop.

I got a nice chuckle thinking of how the OP rated parking ease the same between the two.

Bad driver, I bet that Ford has a better turning then the RL. If it can fit it will, he or she was just bad. I have never witnessed such a thing not that it cant happen but seven times.

 

[Shineaholic]

Not that it matters but the old Tacoma out braked Gen1 & the new Tacoma out brakes Gen2.

it is not the stopping distance that would concern me. it is the parts and tech of drum vs disk.

VS

Any questions?

 

[northernlights]

it is not the stopping distance that would concern me. it is the parts and tech of drum vs disk.

VS

Any questions?

Disc are great but you dont break them down like the drum break down. Their still are parts involved, your pic for a disc doesnt show that.

 

[FWD17]

	              R-line	F-150
L (in)                 	210	231.9
W without mirror (in)	66.6	79.9
W with mirror (in)	78.6	96.8
turning radius (ft)	22.2	23.9

F-150 just too big for us as a second vehicle. Our "other" vehicle is a Sequoia. Wife said she didn't want to deal with parking lots and the F-150. Son has F-150, and thinks it's great.

PS: The R-line with w/o mirror was my measurement estimation with a laser.

 

[puddlejumper]

I just traded a 2009 F150 with 29000 miles on it for a Ridgeline Black Edition. The F 150 was too big. I could not reach over the sides to get anything. It was just too much truck. I am very happy with my Ridgeline.

 

[northernlights]

I have issues with such a shallow box gezz another inch would have been great. How about fold down sides on the box, would make it good for the both of us but then again I know many women that can do 10 pull ups and 25 push ups at 50 years old.

 

[martyn1075]

	              R-line	F-150
L (in)                 	210	231.9
W without mirror (in)	66.6	79.9
W with mirror (in)	78.6	96.8
turning radius (ft)	22.2	23.9

F-150 just too big for us as a second vehicle. Our "other" vehicle is a Sequoia. Wife said she didn't want to deal with parking lots and the F-150. Son has F-150, and thinks it's great.

PS: The R-line with w/o mirror was my measurement estimation with a laser.

I am pretty cautious when it comes parking my F-150 so a standard side by side usually does't fly for me, which means I take my chances with finding a parallel spot. Much harder in the city to do that but they are around if your patient and don't mind walking. It fits easy, but the tightness with others beside you is a concern with the carelesness from some. I think I would be the same if I had a new RL as well but it is a tad bit more forgiving in that manner.

Not sure what I will be driving when my kids are driving but I have noticed a great amount of buyers (not all) that are a bit older drive the RL or midsize and the younger ones drive mainly F-150's or other full size. Could the older and wiser LOL still drive a F-150 I'm sure they could, but most don't have a need to nor like the size factor anymore. It's nothing more than just something that I have noticed and nothing personal.

 

[northernlights]

Standard parking lined is at least 8 feet. I understand not getting in that spot under certain things. So you get in there and all is fine then you have ones that complain about door dings. No win parking that close, you tag someone trying to park or your back and forth thing (ive never seen it) if its that bad or risk the dreaded door ding. See the back corner at Home Depot thats where you see my RL, at work I dont have a problem. Point said why is it such a big deal parking so close and then risking door dings. And if its at work and you dont have a choice thats to bad drive something old that you could care less about. Parking should have nothing to do with the new RL or any other vehicle, learn how to drive.
EDIT: I have seen people drive into there parking spot with no problem and then done the back and forth thing just to make sure they had even footage on both sides cause they did want to risk a door ding from the person on the sides, hell I have done that when need be and aint afraid to say it.

 

[NSIDER]

I read this thread last week and something funny happened yesterday. I was in a parking lot at the bookstore and had the pleasure of watching a new $70k F150 Platinum park. The guy literally went forwards and backwards 7 times in an attempt to fit that beast into the parking spot. A few minutes earlier I had whipped into my parking spot with no problem in one fell swoop.

I got a nice chuckle thinking of how the OP rated parking ease the same between the two.

It's no secret, there's a lot of folks driving full size trucks that probably shouldn't be...

This genius would probably struggle parking a Civic.

 

[phineas]

Anyone find they do more reverse than usual ?
I do !...and if I forward into a parking...I tend to overshot & then reverse. :grin:

I like using the camera to spot on parking ( avoid dings )
Using the dynamic camera to "perfect/even" park is a sight to compliment the RL ( OCD talking )

Already got the replacement T20 for the reverse on the way ( brighter LED that helps at night )

Backing into parking is a truck thing. I do it without thinking when I'm driving a truck. It comes down to a choice:

1. Backing out of your parking space later, more or less blind (less blind in the Ridgeline with the video), into pedestrian and car traffic in a parking lot or ...

2. Backing into the parking space that won't have pedestrians or vehicles and has nice white lines to show you where you are. Just remember to check it out before you back in to make sure there's no pole.

It's no contest for me. I love backing into spaces. The Ridgeline is not hard to park. For years, long before the Ridgeline, I've enjoyed seeing how close I can come to the obstacle behind the truck in the parking lot. In the Tacoma, with its backup video, I could come within 2 inches. The parking nannies never let me get that close in the Ridgeline. That's why I turn them off once in a while.
>

 

[fraugher]

Love the red, phin !

 

[martyn1075]

Standard parking lined is at least 8 feet. I understand not getting in that spot under certain things. So you get in there and all is fine then you have ones that complain about door dings. No win parking that close, you tag someone trying to park or your back and forth thing (ive never seen it) if its that bad or risk the dreaded door ding. See the back corner at Home Depot thats where you see my RL, at work I dont have a problem. Point said why is it such a big deal parking so close and then risking door dings. And if its at work and you dont have a choice thats to bad drive something old that you could care less about. Parking should have nothing to do with the new RL or any other vehicle, learn how to drive.
EDIT: I have seen people drive into there parking spot with no problem and then done the back and forth thing just to make sure they had even footage on both sides cause they did want to risk a door ding from the person on the sides, hell I have done that when need be and aint afraid to say it.

I know, sometimes I conveniently leave hitch back in the receiver. Have fun with that one. It really doesn't happen often but it does help with the drivers who like to park in tight spots and your bumper gets hit no big deal to them. The front is still open, but I'm not putting on one of those ugly bush bars for mostly street driving. Take my chances.

 

[ToadVine]

I know, sometimes I conveniently leave hitch back in the receiver.

Better check the law in your state -- illegal in some places to leave the hitch in. Chances of actually getting ticketed are probably low, but if someone walking behind your truck in the parking lot cracks a shin on it you may hear from their lawyer.