My new "Honda Hauling Honda"

[atctim]

I had to get rid of my beloved 2000 Tacoma TRD. Here is my new ride. It has alot of sweet features - mainly the in-bed trunk which will store all of our riding gear and tons more stuff too. Enjoy!

http://www.venustel.com/~tkeister/trunk1.jpg

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http://www.venustel.com/~tkeister/trunk2.jpg

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http://www.venustel.com/~tkeister/ridgeline.jpg

[edog]

Nice :w00t:

[hancadam]

I honestly didn't like the Ridgelines until my dad bought one and I got first hand experience. They are very unique and awesome trucks. He has a new white RTX. I love the boxy interior. The seats are covered in a material similar to a pack pack, very durable feeling. Congrats and enjoy!!!!

[TravEX]

I like the Ridgelines, but would like a V8 in a full size truck. How strong is the V6?

Great looking truck BTW.

[BigTBones]

What was the reason for getting rid of the Yota? I work for Honda and drive these pickups....They remind me of a Honda Pilot not a regular truck? I do dig the storage in the back! Just pull out the drains and fill it up with ice, put some beer of pop in there are close her up! Anyways nice lookin truck!

[atctim]

I like the Ridgelines, but would like a V8 in a full size truck. How strong is the V6?

Great looking truck BTW.

they are not actually full sized truck- so a V8 is not offered. The V6 is plenty strong - 255HP - much stronger then my V6 Toyota. The 5 speed tranny is silky smooth - so you don't realize how fast you are accelerating. 0-60 is like 8 or 9 seconds - not bad for a heavy V6 powered pickup.


What was the reason for getting rid of the Yota?

Toyota is currently having a buy back program on their 1995 - 2000 Tacomas due to premature frame rot. Mine was bad - I got 150% of excellent condition Kelly Blue Book value - to put it simple - I bought my truck last year for $13K. The gave me over $17K for it.

If anyone has a 95-00 Tacoma and lives in a salty road climate - I suggest calling your dealer and setting up and appointment. Or you could wait - all owners will be getting a letter in the mail concerning this issue.

[The Goat]

you should have gone and bought another tacoma and headed back to another dealer with it. lol.

I didn't like the ridgelines until I saw a modded one the other day, quick as all hell! and they are nice looking too. one thing I will warn about the ridgelines, that storage isn't water tight, and a lot of people think it is.

if you get substantial rain or snow in the bed, water will get in.

a guy at the golf course I used to work at lost all KINDS of stuff for being an idiot.

[Dammit!]

I posted a thread about the Ridgeline when they first came out. I thought they were cool and the whole board jumped on me. I could picture them all standing on the hoods of their F-250's pounding their chests. :lol:

For what they are, I like them. They aren't intended to directly compete with a full size truck but if you need something for a daily driver that just has to pretend to be a truck once in a while, it's a good option.

[atctim]

I posted a thread about the Ridgeline when they first came out. I thought they were cool and the whole board jumped on me. I could picture them all standing on the hoods of their F-250's pounding their chests. :lol:

For what they are, I like them. They aren't intended to directly compete with a full size truck but if you need something for a daily driver that just has to pretend to be a truck once in a while, it's a good option.

I remember that thread because I was on your side. I thought it was funny how members of a forum about mainly (75%) "Honda" three wheelers were so qucik to dismiss Honda's truck.

Here is a link for those who missed it:

http://www.3wheelerworldforums.com/showthread.php?t=27873&highlight=honda+truck

actually - I started this thread back in 04:lol:

Wow - not many were impressed with it's release. Somebody said - well it's a uni-body - so that makes it a POS. well here is an interesting little blurb about just that from pickuptruck.com. Honda Engineers are smart - this is an interview with the engineers who designed the truck:

PUTC: Regarding the unibody construction, explain your approach to addressing bending and torsion dynamics.

Flint: Bending lends itself to customers’ general impression of ride quality where torsion tends to manifest itself in handling. You want to keep the body stable and let all the work be done by the suspension.

Jim Keller: If the body structure is moving—of course, the suspension is attached to the body structure—and the alignment of the axles is all related to the alignment of the body relative to the axles. So if the body flexes, that means the [suspension] mounting points are moving. And when the mounting points are moving, the axle is moving. So the control of the vehicle is being affected by flex.

Flint: You may get steering or some other strange things happening in the axle because the body is moving so much.

PUTC: Talk about the analysis and computer modeling you did before you came up with the final direction of the truck.

Flint: One of the things we first started with was an optimization program to give us more of an empirical recommendation of where’s the best place to put structure. It doesn’t design the car for you. It tells you what direction should you go with and what could be the optimal, most weight-efficient way to achieve a bending or stiffness target. That really led us into the architecture you see executed on the vehicle. We did, in fact, have the most complete model ever put together that early in a development. But we did have an advantage in that we were springing off from other model developments—both Pilot and MDX—where we had some of the structure modeled. We used that as a base to start building what we targeted as additional truck structure back into the vehicle. We actually did three complete iterations of the body model before we were finished. We did a lot of full validation work with them.

Keller: That was even after we did the initial unibody versus body-on-frame comparisons. We did full modeling. We had a competitive vehicle that we used for a total vehicle test. Then we took that vehicle apart and measured it and created a computer model. We kind of reversed-engineered that vehicle into a computer simulation model that allowed us to do a comparison.

PUTC: Forty-four percent of the structure is made from high-strength steel. Did that number come from the computer modeling?

Flint:You try to get a balance between weight and performance. That’s another level of optimization. You start looking at gauge (thickness of the steel) reduction. You’ve got the basic geometry of the components identified. If we allow some of these materials to go to a higher stress-level material, what can we do by reducing gauge and not causing failure?

PUTC: You claim the Ridgeline is 20 times stiffer than a body-on-frame pickup. Where are traditional pickups losing it?

Thelen: First you start with their frame structure; it’s a flat-plane frame. That frame structure, honestly speaking, is not conducive to torsional restraint. But our frame is integrated with the upper structure. The rear panel in our cab is all integrated with that section to create not only a box section, but a reinforced box section.

Keller: If I can demonstrate. (The engineers then used small, empty milk cartons to show how a box structure is stiff and resists twisting. But when the carton is crushed flat; what essentially is the same amount of material or mass can easily be twisted. They also show how the traditional pickup body is based on three separate sections—front clip, cab and cargo bed—that follow the movement of the frame while the unibody design acts as one unit and is a stronger piece.)

Flint: If I take a box, like a truck frame, and put a torsional load into it. Now I take that same piece and slit it. Now it’s a C-channel. It’s 15 times stiffer as a closed section. So we’ve got that going for us because they’re all closed-box sections. Plus we’ve got the additional benefit that it becomes a bridge structure. It’s more like a truss. It’s a more efficient way to handle loads because I’m forcing loads into the upper superstructure of the vehicle. If I’m trying to make the lightest possible structure in a space-constraint, stiffness-critical application; any computer optimization program is going to immediately explode a cross-section area to the maximum possible space that you’ll let it go to and the thinnest possible wall stock. That’s the most efficient way to make a structure. If you want to do a whole lot of work in a small area, which is what a truck frame is, it gets real heavy and real inefficient. We’ve made use of all those elements that a normal truck construction doesn’t do because they aren’t connected.

[Kintore]

hmm good read, solid truck tim, SOLID buddy

Trikes look puuurtty int he back of there!

[jason85atc250r]

Toyota is currently having a buy back program on their 1995 - 2000 Tacomas due to premature frame rot. Mine was bad - I got 150% of excellent condition Kelly Blue Book value - to put it simple - I bought my truck last year for $13K. The gave me over $17K for it.

If anyone has a 95-00 Tacoma and lives in a salty road climate - I suggest calling your dealer and setting up and appointment. Or you could wait - all owners will be getting a letter in the mail concerning this issue.


hey atctim. was there big rust holes in the frame or was it just surface rust on the 2000 truck?. my early 1995 4x4 truck pre tacoma the frame is in perfect shape no rust. just wondering never heard of this before

my 86 dually toyota the frame is perfect not even a scally rust spot. the 4runner i had at the Pennsyltucky ride has one frame rust hole that needs fixed though but it's a 1985

[atctim]

Jason - when I heard of this I started inspecting - visually it was just surface rust. In front of the passenger side rear tire - on the frame there is a small threaded hole on the bottom side. It looked funny - I stuck a screw driver right up threw it - then enlarged the hole with my finger only. I looked a some of the trucks the local dealer took in - all that same spot. They take a hammer to the frame for a test. Inside frame rail on mine has a big hole in that same spot on the inside frame rail from a hammer.

To answer your question - a hammer must make a hole in the frame of a 95 - 00 Tacoma. Don't take a hammer to it yourself though .

[ATC-Eric]

I like it, and if it suits your needs then good for you! That storage spot is awesome!

I couldnt roll with it though, my tahoe has barely enough power to pull the stuff I need to.

[jason85atc250r]

Jason - when I heard of this I started inspecting - visually it was just surface rust. In front of the passenger side rear tire - on the frame there is a small threaded hole on the bottom side. It looked funny - I stuck a screw driver right up threw it - then enlarged the hole with my finger only. I looked a some of the trucks the local dealer took in - all that same spot. They take a hammer to the frame for a test. Inside frame rail on mine has a big hole in that same spot on the inside frame rail from a hammer.

To answer your question - a hammer must make a hole in the frame of a 95 - 00 Tacoma. Don't take a hammer to it yourself though .

must be some bad frame design on those year tacoma's. my regular 4x4 95 truck is not showing any signs of rusting threw there. tacomas did not come out till spring of 95

[atctim]

must be some bad frame design on those year tacoma's. my regular 4x4 95 truck is not showing any signs of rusting threw there. tacomas did not come out till spring of 95

It was bad metal I guess - or a bad process to the metal. Not 100% sure on details - no press releases - weird

Actually 1995.5 - 2000 would be a better way to put it. I do believe there are both 1995 regular no-name Toyota Pickups - as well as later 1995 model Tacomas. I think my brothers is titled as a 1995 1/2 Tacoma.

This frame problem did not affect the 1995 no-name Toyota pickups - only the Tacos.

[keister]

I took my 1995 1/2 Tacoma and they found lots of frame rust, but not a hole that Toyota would buy back. The buyback is a 10 year offer (from this spring), so the service manager suggested bringing it back each year for another check.
I spray bomb my frame and undercarriage every 6 months to prevent (cover?) the rust. No more of that, I'll let it rust and take the cash.

[edog]

At Toyota that rusts...say it isn't so.lol

Man those early models were rust buckets.

[keister]

Sweet rig Tim! The Big Red in the bed puts its size in perspective - guess you won't be putting the CBR back there.

I thought I had read that another benefit of the Ridgeline was that it had enough width between the wheel wells to haul a 4x8 sheet of plywood flat. I guess that means with the tailgate down and 2 feet hanging out the back.

Can't wait to fill that trunk with ice and smooth, easy drinkin' Busch Light.

[atctim]

Bill,

Yes - 17" of overhang with a 4X8 sheet of plywood. but it can lat flat (49.5" between nearly non-existent wheel wheels) - and two full sized moto-X bikes will fit also.

Actually that is an SX in the bed. I can get the tailgate up 3/4 of the way with it in there. this weekend - I hauled that sx in the bed and my 1 trike trailer with the 86R on it. I was concerned about hauling a trailer with the tailgate down - but there were no clearance issues so I was golden. I gotta tell you - these things can tow! with one in the bed and one in the little trailer - It made a bit of difference in the tacoma. Man - I didn't even know they were back there in this.

I will be able to haul my CBR in the bed - no-problemo man. I had to leave the tailgate down on both my other Toyotas to do so - so nothing different there.

http://www.911products.net/MWR/aprilia2.jpg

and here is what she is capable of - I tell you - it is a towers dream.

http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/attachments/racks-hitches-towing/29544d1207616835-ridgelines-can-tow-photos-april-7-2008-163_1.jpg

[keister]

Here is a picture a snapped last night from my favorite dive bar in central Arkansas. Thought you would enjoy it, Tim.

[scooterroo]

i love them ridgelines, someday!!!