Dreaming of an eight foot bed

The Ridgeline has a 63” bed.

84” with the gate down.

But common building materials are 96” long.

Both my F-150 and Excursion, and even my wife’s minivan can carry 8 foot long materials with the rear closed up.

Today, walking out of Home Depot, the reason for the short bed was painfully obvious.

Answer after the jump…..

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Be prepared

As an Eagle Scout, I still try to prepare for any contingency. One of the common roadside emergencies is a flat tire.

For the past 35 years of driving, I’ve carried a traditional four way tire wrench to remove & install tires – but the Ridgeline doesn’t have a good place to store it!🤬

The good folks at The Ridgeline Owners Club have given me some sound advice.

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Picking Nits on the Ridgeline

I’ve had the Honda for just over a week now, and the development in automobiles from 2001 to 2024 is astounding. When Fessick rolled off the assembly line, neither mobile phones nor USB were widespread technologies, streaming audio wasn’t even an option, and high end cars had CD changers. Now with wireless CarPlay, my phone and all its associated connectivity is integrated into the car, I’ve got USB-A and -C ports, but the CD player has found the end of it’s road.

When I sit down, press a button to start the engine without unclipping my keys from my belt, the audio I was streaming to my phone routes to the car speakers, and directions to my doctor’s appointment show up on the dashboard, I feel like I’ve stepped into the future. (Also, I know that these features aren’t really high end these days. I’m driving a Honda, not a Rolls.)

That being said, I’ve found a few flaws that really bug me.

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A New Car!

Can you hear Bob Barker in your head, or is that just me?

Shiny!

Well, the new truck has been added to the family. As much as I love Fessick, the needed repairs were getting to the point where they didn’t make sense. After several months of shopping I purchased a 2024 Honda Ridgeline RTL in Sonic Gray.

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The Son of Fessick

So now I need a vehicle to replace the Excursion.

I need something smaller to navigate city streets.

I need something big enough to fit the family. My kids are about to be teenagers, so I need a reasonable back seat. My brother’s boys are older than my kids, and they don’t really fit in the back of his Nissan Titan.

I need something that will tow my utility trailer. It has a weight rating of 3,500 pounds, so I don’t really need a tow monster.

The Ford Maverick actually does most of what I need, but the back seat isn’t big enough for the kids. I actually recommended that my brother buy a Maverick for his boys to share, the oldest just got his license.

I cycled through the midsized trucks and really none of them had a backseat that was useable.

I started looking at the full sized trucks, and the prices for new trucks are just stupid.

But then I stumbled across a dark horse – the Honda Ridgeline.

It’s mocked as NART (Not A Real Truck), but the capabilities of the Ridgeline meet my needs.

Test drive is scheduled.