BODY-ON-FRAME TRUCKS vs UNITIZED-BODY TRUCKS / HOW TO CHOOSE / 8 KEY DIFFERENCES / HONDA RIDGELINE 

Excellent overview. One inaccurate comment at 10:50 you say it doesn't come with a lockable tailgate. It does. You have to change the settings in the display settings. It comes from the factory with the tailgate lock turned off. It should come with that setting turned on from the factory, but it's simple to change. I purchased a Ridgeline about a month ago after 25 years in full-size trucks. My last truck.. a 2017 Silverado.. had a catastrophic transmission failure with only 99k miles on it and it didn't make sense to repair it so I decided to get a new vehicle. I finally realized that I didn't need a full-size truck anymore and after looking at all the competitors, the Ridgeline made the most sense for me.

Nice review. This whole "real truck" argument has to stop though. I've owned a half dozen trucks over the last 40 years and I've never had a need to tow more than 3500lbs. I use mine as a "real truck". all the time, hauling sand, compost, lumber, motorcycles, mountain bikes, appliances, towing an 18' boat, and camping off fire roads. While I've never had a unibody truck, my Dad's Ridgeline would be more than I need for any purpose that I use a truck for. And the ride is fantastic.

Dave, I wish I could thank you in person for how genuine, knowledgeable, articulate, and helpful you are. Your channel is great.

I’ve watched his videos for several years. For that entire time up till now, I thought he was too….careful. Too worried about alienating the manufacturer of the vehicle he was reviewing. Not necessarily lying, but also not giving his full thoughts about a given automobile. This is the video that finally prompted me to subscribe to his channel. It felt more up front and honest.

For those who drive their vehicles hard, body-on-frame is the way to go. A Toyota 4Runner is good example. For added rigidity, roof rails with a couple of cross beams, believe it or not, adds additional rigidity in addition to its roof cargo carrying ability. If possible, add a strut tower brace in the engine bay for more rigidity. The 4Runner is already stout from the factory but with that set-up, combined with the 4Runner reliability, you'd have a rock-solid vehicle destined to last many thousands of miles.

I've had 4 Ridgelines over the years. It's a great truck. By the way, the tailgate is lockable from the setup menu on the vehicle settings screen.

My wife and I ride E-bikes. Sometimes we're told we are cheating. What ? I'm in my late 60s and fat and lazy. At least I'm outside getting fresh air and sunshine. We were at the most recent Minneapolis Auto Show and compared all of the midsize trucks. For the money (if I needed a "truck" bed) I would choose the Ridgeline and get some fresh air and sunshine and occasionally a load of lumber....gravel.....topsoil. I don't have to call it a truck.

You did a impressive job describing the features of the Honda Ridgeline. I recently traded my G1 2008 Ridgeline (original owner) for a newer G2 Ridgeline. They drive and handle great and are good in the snow.

Top notch Review. Enjoy the information presented, especially fit and finish critique. Also love your low keys straight forward personal presentation. Thank You.

Always depends on the usage of the truck. My issue is the engine size and use of turbocharger or hybrids. How durable will the engines be. I like Honda & Nissan for still keeping a natural aspirated engine.

These are actually very useful vehicles. Most trucks these days are so large, they are difficult to work out of.

I can buy the Ranger, Tacoma, Ridgeline and others as a small truck. However, the Maverick is really stretching that definition. It is less capable than some sedans, smaller than some sedans and even tows less than some sedans. You can get more utility/capability from some compact SUVs like a RAV4.

I still don't understand people who say, "real truck", "real sports car", etc. Probably because the only people who talk about this stuff are in debt and spend more time looking a certain way than being a certain way.

Excellent presentation!

Very informative David

Love the new thumbnail style. Unique and upscale.

While it’s true that most unibody vehicles are not typically designed to do really difficult off-road trails, there are several that are very capable including Land Rover Defender, Jeep Grand Cherokee and in particular, the legendary Jeep Cherokee XJ. The underbody is or can be protected with skid plates just like body on frame vehicles and some (Grand Cherokee WK2) even had a factory option for rock sliders. Unibody can be engineered to be whatever “strength” is needed, same as body on frame. Ram promaster 3500 cargo van is unibody and has a 4800 lb payload. Ford work vans are also unibody. I think the main reason half ton trucks are still body on frame is because of customer expectations and not due to engineering limitations. IMO, solid axles and a flexible suspension are more important to off-road capability than the type of chassis.

David, as always, I value your expertise and opinion. We are buying a pickup truck at the end of the year to replace our current 2009 midsize SUV V8 that tows our small camper (2,900 lbs loaded). I want 4WD or AWD, a minimum of 5,000 lb tow capacity, and 1,500 lbs of payload for hauling camping gear, shell, tongue weight, passengers, pets, etc. I am leaning mid-size over 1/2 ton due to price and liking the drivability of the mid-size trucks. I am a fan of all the mid-size trucks, but have more or less eliminated the Tacoma and Frontier. Both are great trucks, but lack the real world payload of the other offerings. I also highly value reliability and safety. To be honest, the Ridgeline is the TRUCK that I benchmark all other mid-size trucks against for our needs. I will only do light off-roading when camping (forest service roads, etc.). I am still considering the GM twins (I prefer the styling of the Canyon), the new Ranger, and the Gladiator Sport S (with the max tow package). These trucks offer more tow capacity and competitive to superior payload, but the Ridgeline offers everything I need and superior qualities in terms of reliability, safety, and drivability. Of course, price will be a deciding factor as well.

Very informative review! I had no idea honda ridgeline is unitized body. Now i know why there’s not many of them (if not at all) in offroad community.

Good information.

The Ford Maverick Ecoboost AWD FX4 is fantastic. I don't know if this turbo charge engine will last a very long time, but it's been around for many yrs. My guess is that it won't last as long as the V6 from Honda Ridgeline or Toyota Tacoma. Having said that, the ride handling is great on this trim of the Maverick. It's also smaller, driving like a small SUV, nimble and easy to park. The bed size of the Maverick is perfect for me. I don't need a wider or longer bed. I do wish it had a hidden trunk in the bed like the Ridgeline. First time i own a compact truck, and I'll probably continue to stay in this segment of the auto industry. I wish Toyota or Honda or Nissan will make a similar one in the future w a reliable engine, then i might consider to switch if the Ford engine is not going well. So far, i love the Maverick.

I find that unibody holds up much better to the road salt here in New England. Most body on frame trucks are getting pretty rusty by 10 years old.

David I really like watching your videos I learn a lot from them. I've been a die-hard Toyota fan for more than 40 years. However a couple of months ago you did a review on the Hyundai Santa fe. Wow I was really impressed and I am looking into that vehicle. I was kind of waiting for you to do one on their hybrid model because I'm a big hybrid fan. Will you be doing a review of that vehicle? Thanks again for your outstanding videos!

Thanks for making this video. It was helpful. Soon I will purchase a Ridgeline after extensive research and comparison. I just wish it had more ground clearance/ride height. Honda really missed the mark by not adding a 1” lift to the Trailsport. Nonetheless, I do find the Ridgeline superior in nearly every category and at my increasing age I choose comfort, reliability and practicality.

My Ridgeline trucks is more than enough for me and my family since my 2009 and 2018. I do wish more improvements over years especially trailsport edition, but still great for us. Others are overkill for us even though we like them.

I see more Ridgelines doing truck work than full sizes lately. These things are so popular now. Everyone loves the way they drive and the utilization of them.

Technology is often tested with Business Use Cases, or scenarios. I’m looking at trucks and want a truck that can do truck stuff, i.e. carry people, gear, and tow. Here’s a use case: 3 people, 300 lbs of gear, and 5000 lb boat. So towing capacity at least 5000 lbs and payload at least 1300 lbs (3 p x 170 lbs, 300 lbs gear, 10% x 5000 lbs for hitch weight). Nice to have a bit more payload for the trip back with some chinook salmon on ice. I’m interested in comparing body on frame vs unitised with respect to durability, i.e. will they last, what if they’re overloaded? The new 4Runner with its puny 895 lb payload can’t do what my 2005 4Runner can with its 1280 lb payload. The new CX70 (unitised) has better payload than the new 4Runner (BoF)

The Ridgeline is an excellent truck. I own a 2023 model and am extremely satisfied with it. Having previously owned various expensive full-sized trucks, I never felt I was getting my money's worth until now.

I love the Honda Ridgeline and the Ford Maverick but I agree with you the quality of the Honda is hard to be and it drives just like a Pilot. Thanks for the review.

More and more unibody trucks are coming out because they're not that bad, actually, they're better than body-on-frame for mid-sized. If Toyota comes out with one, that means Honda Ridgeline had it right the whole time.

I am 76 years old and have had 2 Toyota Tacoma’s and 2 Toyota Tundras and an old Mazda B-2000 and quite towering a camper last year but I still can’t bring myself to a Unibody pickup truck I am a traditionalist truck guy I also don’t like the idea of a 4 banger turbo so I am looking at a Nisson Frontier. But my wife says we don’t need a bigger truck so look at a Ridgeline. I just can’t do it yet.

What about unibody weilds or metal fatigue after 200k+ miles of bad roads and corrugations ? Compared to body on frame ?

The Maverick handles off roading way better than the Ridgeline. AWD can be crippled quickly once you get off road with the wrong tires. I like both trucks, space is fantastic for a family.

10:50 .. incorrect .. the tailgate is lockable .. how do I know? .. I own the 2024 black edition ridgeline .. it's in the menu driven settings on the mfd (multifunction display) .. manual unlock / release is key locked & hidden from view.

Are you towing heavy loads, hauling very heavy payload, or going thoroughly offroading and really beating on the vehicle? If not, choosing a body-on-frame vehicle is just costing you extra money both up front and recurring, and lowering comfort and drivability. I drive a 2023 4Runner, only because I need a reliable vehicle that has very high offroad capability and the ability to take strikes to the undercarriage of the vehicle. I would never choose this vehicle if I was some suburbanite that just needs to drive to work, the mall, and smooth pavement road trips. It's a very mediocre vehicle for that kind of application, and I would much rather have something like a Honda Pilot if that was all I did.

I don't believe it is a whole lot of different except if you are towing heavy load you need a body on frame truck 💪 maybe that is why the Ridgeline cannot towing as much as Tacoma or ranger .

Do you think the transmission on the Ridgeline will be reliable long-term?

Would a Subaru Baja be considered a “real truck” too? Or an old school El Camino?

Ridgelines have had lockable tailgates from the factory since 2017. All other descriptions seem accurate.

What about the transmission and pay load capacity?? towing capacity??

What unibody SUV has excellent reliability like the 4runner?

I'm really liking my 2024 Ridgeline. It has a good tow rating (5000lbs). I'd like them to maybe bump that up to maybe 6000 in later models. I currently have a Class A motorhome, but am looking to downsize to a travel trailer and a slight bump in tow rating would really open up my options if I stick with the Ridgeline after my lease ends.

Ridgeline in my area the only pickup I see carrying a load.

If you have 100k to Buy 3500 sierra duramax go for it but if you need to put plywood in the back you better chose the ridgeline

Here for the butt-hurt "men" hating on the Ridgeline. That fact that it bothers them so makes me consider buying one...

So why did the new Land Rover Defender go to unibody? I thought they are true off roaders?

I heard that Honda will give the engine a timing chain instead of the current belt like they have done for the pilot! I like the ridgeline as a suv/truck for light trail, but for more off road for the same money you might as well get a Frontier Pro-4x.

Despite the V6 engine, the towing capacity is relatively low (for a pickup truck) - 5,000 lbs. New Tacoma / new 4Runner / new Land Cruiser have 4 cyl. 2.4 engine turbo / hybrid and their towing capacity is 6,000 lbs. Probably because they are body on frame

Irrefutable logic‼️ 16:47

New Honda always have orange peel issues from the factory.

It not a truck I had 23 black ED. It practically for 80% of Americans people. But this damn thing not a truck 😢it a man van ( honda Odyssey) 😂😂😂.

Enough with the lists