[longboat]

I may be thick but I don't exactly understand the importance of a tailgate lock. Unless one has a hard tonneau cover or cap, isn't it like locking the doors on a convertible? Senseless if you leave the top down, and if a soft top, easy to "get into" with a knife......

OTOH a locking trunk makes sense.

The main reason most truck manufacturers offer it is because of the high incidence of stolen tailgates. Most of the Big3's trucks have tailgates that can be removed quickly and easily - this made them a hot commodity for amateur thieves.

In the case of the Ridgeline, the lock would be primarily used in combination with a tonneau cover.

 

[toddyridge]

Thanks - I can understand that....

 

[sajack]

Three things Honda will most likely screw-up for the next gen.

1- No center armrest console
2-No tailgate lock
3-Pilot looking front end

4-Less than 300 horsepower
5-No driver side grab handle on A-pillar

 

[longboat]

4-less than 300 lb-ft torque
5-no driver side grab handle on a-pillar

^^ fify ^^

 

[jonesbb630]

I may be thick but I don't exactly understand the importance of a tailgate lock. Unless one has a hard tonneau cover or cap, isn't it like locking the doors on a convertible? Senseless if you leave the top down, and if a soft top, easy to "get into" with a knife......

OTOH a locking trunk makes sense.

You didn't pay attention to my post. "they offer a Honda tonneau cover as an accessory." So if Honda themselves offer this as an accessory, one would thing it would only be common sense they would offer a lock as well.

 

[toddyridge]

Yes - if they "offer" a hard cover, it would certainly make sense to "offer" an accessory tailgate lock with it.........but I suspect a very low volume of Ridgelines get equipped with a hard cover. For those like me that use a soft cover (or those using no cover) I'd rather not pay for a useless lock as standard equipment.........would prefer to be paying my $ for a "real" armrest instead lol!

 

[sajack]

If I needed a tonneau cover, I'd get an SUV. I like an open bed so I can use it as a truck without having to deal with some kind of cover.

 

[jonesbb630]

If I needed a tonneau cover, I'd get an SUV. I like an open bed so I can use it as a truck without having to deal with some kind of cover.

Great for storage if you have kids. Mine is used for hockey gear. With two kids plus my own coaching gear, the tonneau serves its purpose. When I need to get my Honda snowblower serviced, off comes to cover and away I go. Can't do that with the SUV.

 

[FTM1]

If I needed a tonneau cover, I'd get an SUV. I like an open bed so I can use it as a truck without having to deal with some kind of cover.

It depends on how you use your vehicle an SUV is more for hauling people Pilot/MDX vs Ridgeline more for hauling cargo. Most Tonneau Covers can be removed. So if you are hauling luggage or something you want to keep out of sight or weather in bed you have the cover. With Ridgeline everything will not go into in-bed lockable trunk. So you have a hard Tonneau Cover with locking tailgate you got a great multipurpose vehicle. My sister takes the Ridgeline form Maryland to Myrtle Beach SC every year to the Time Share property. She loads the truck bed up with all kinds of stuff luggage folding beach chairs. She also takes housewares stuff food in ice coolers from home so she does not need to spend extra money for the week that she is gone. So the Tonneau Cover with lock on tailgate serves it's purpose helps keep wandering eyes and sticky fingered people looking at your stuff or stealing. If you notice in the last 10yrs more SUVs offer as accessory an interior slide/fold up cargo cover for rear area. Thieves will break windows of SUVs to get stuff in rear cargo area.

 

[rollinhonda]

Having used them both ways I could not agree more on the versatility of a cover.

I've used mine about 50/50 moving large furniture and boxes with the cover off. And hauling people and luggage (with the cover on) to an airport in a rainstorm.
Overall more times with the cover removed or folded up.

One reason I picked an Extang, easy on easy off.

Someone once commented that trucks with cargo covers rarely carry cargo. Of course that does not account for all the empty truck beds I see everyday without covers.

 

[toddyridge]

I agree with the usefulness of a cover. Mine is a trifold alum. frame soft cover and not "secure" like a hard cover, but nonetheless extremely useful as noted above. Another benefit is it keeps debris, leaves, snow, etc. out of the bed when covered.

 

[Dnick]

I can't agree more with the absolutely supreme utility of a locking tonneau in combination with a locking tailgate. Invaluable for road tripping with a load that won't fit elsewhere.

I have a RETRAX hard roll-up cover & I absolutely love it (for 10 1/2 years now). I WILL make one observation for anyone considering the various forms of bed covers: I was just in Utah where we got some good snow (8-10"). After of few days of being shut, I discovered that I was not able (without an amount of force I was unwilling to apply) to get the Retrax to roll-up. It was just frozen up. I'm thinking the tri-fold types would not present this kind of issue if you live in cold weather climates.
But by the same token, I DON'T live in these climates, and it's possible there's a simple solution to this problem (with the RETRAX) that I'm just not aware of.

Anyway, FYI! )

 

[toddyridge]

I think freezing may be an issue under the right conditions with almost any kind of tonneau. Mine tri-folds and is non- locking but freezes sometimes (like today). The biggest issue is that I can't open tailgate easily until I lift the back of the cover to break the frozen contact. Not usually a big deal.

I've found that spraying some silicone on the tonneau seating surfaces a few times and letting it dry (during dry weather) greatly reduces susceptibility to freezing shut.

Incidently, to those in the snow belt, the same type of silicone application to snowblower discharge chutes reduces clogging too - especially with sticky snow!

 

[longboat]

I just use PAM on my snow blowers/shovels.

 

[toddyridge]

I just use PAM on my snow blowers/shovels.

Yup - that works too! Used to use that but found a few preseason applications of silicone on blower chute seemed to last a bit longer. Either can make quite a difference though!