re: Anyone here owns a Ridgeline? I'm in the market for a new truck.

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Domestic trucks, besides be actual trucks,

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American truck buying lot is such a strange lot. I don't know if it's ignorance or machismo that has them holding on to the antiquated notion that a truck needs a steel ladder frame and apparently a timing chain like there is some sort of definition in Merriam Webster's dictionary that lists sub frame types and timing devices as a precursor to being labeled a truck.

You need to tow 12k lbs? Absolutely you want a steel frame and a heavy duty solid axle rear end. Zero reason for someone towing less than 5k to ever need a steel ladder frame and a live axle. Heck Dodge Durando does 7.5k on a unibody. Move to a Unibody design and ditch the live axle and antiquated leaf spring and you open up a world of design possibilities to make a truck that is lighter, stiffer, quieter, and rides and handles remarkably better with actual modern day suspension. This type of stupid ignorant thinking is what is holding back the mid sized truck market. I hope the Mavrick does well as maybe it will open the door for more small unibody trucks in the market.

I'm old enough to remember when the small and mid sized SUV market when through this very change in the 90's. "That's not a real SUV". Heard that said about the Explorer. RAV4 and CR-V. Were they are burly and capable as their large ladder framed distant cousins? No. But they were the vehicles 95% of people needed.