2024 Ridgeline – Modern Anachronist

A game of inches

With the Excursion, the barn doors opened above the trailer crank handle. I’ve been worried about getting into the bed of the Ridgeline with the trailer hitched.

When we go camping, I like to make sure that everyone has a charged phone or watch so that I can find my family. Unfortunately, Honda doesn’t think you should have access to electrons when the engine isn’t running. Time to add some charging ports, without looking like I added some charging ports. (See Rule 2)

First trip with the tonneau.

We decided to take advantage of the President’s Day weekend, and the generosity of some family friends and head to Cape May for a two night getaway.

Pouring rain for the two hour drive, but thanks to the tonneau cover, all our luggage stayed dry*.

Finally installed the Fas-Top

Between work & weather the Fas-Top has been in boxes in my garage for almost a month. The weather was almost acceptable today & I need the space in the garage for some other projects so I installed the top system today.

Utility hooks from Amazon.

Given the flat floor in the back of the Ridgeline and some spirited driving, the shopping can come a bit unsettled. I need a way to keep the bags from sliding about.

Honda has a $46 solution, where Amazon has a $15 solution.

Folding hooks attached to the under side of the back seats.

Always watch the classifieds.

You never know when a deal is going to appear.

This is going to be a teaser because it’s too cold to work outside right now.

Trailer Brake Controller

I bought this controller years ago but never got around to installing it in the Excursion. Given how much lighter the Ridgeline is, I’m more concerned about being pushed about by the trailer.

I opted for the Liberty (highway) model over the Elite (off-road & highway) for the two obvious reasons – price and the fact that I don’t take a trailer off road. That being said install for the two should be identical.

More Input!

When towing with the Excursion, I never really thought about the “extra load” on the engine, because I never towed anything heavy enough for the 7.3 to notice.

But if I’m going to tow with the Ridgeline, I’m going to have to monitor the engine a bit more closely.

Ain’t tech grand!

Yet another way that 23 years of technology have made trucks easier to manage. Yesterday morning, I had to move the trailer around the yard.

Normally, I ask my wife or son to direct me as I back up to the coupler.

The downward view on the backup camera makes hitching up a one man operation.

First scratch!!!

Luckily it’s on the center display screen.

Honda was kind enough to include a “microfiber” cloth to clean the screen. One day, about a week into ownership, I was cleaning fingerprints with the official cleaning cloth & it dug into the screen & scratched it.

🤬😡🤬😡😡🤬😡🤬😡

Category: 2024 Ridgeline