I was thinking Tundra/Titan. I should have pointed that out. The Ridgline is a rolling punchline, not a truck. I should have pointed that out.

And FWIW I thought the Honda was only intended to be able to haul a few hundred pounds in the bed, and tow not much over that? Not that I looked that closely at the specs

 

Good post! So which is more "American": my Dodge made in Mexico, or a Nissan made in Mississippi?

I think all the "Jap" trucks are actually made here-- except perhaps the Ridgeline.


Given the circumstances of this guy who thrashed the Ridgeline, I'd strongly suspect an Avalanche would not fare any better.

jh

 

Kinda goes like this.

The ridgeline is designed to tow 5500 lbs.... And it will.

My truck is designed to tow about 13000lbs... And it will.


Problem is when you hit a hill in the jap truck you slow down to 20mph . Therein lays the problem.

 

Oh this reminds me... I was reading I think in Edmunds or Yahoo about a guy asking about the Ridgeline.. His dad was going to buy one to tow a 5,500lb boat... Add to that cargo and passengers . Some people on there, more than you'd think, were like yeah it would be ok since it's rated to tow that much . Someone suggested getting a diesel since the vehicle was going to be used primarily for towing and cummins came into the picture etc.. That's how I stumbled onto the convo when I was shopping for trucks. I was just lurking but really wanted to reply.

Surprising how many people are umm.... stupid and give bad advice.

BTW: My brother has a Tacoma and I really like the truck. They have weak rear springs that are prone to sagging after a while if "worked".

 

[QUOTE=HOHN;1632914]Good post! So which is more "American": my Dodge made in Mexico, or a Nissan made in Mississippi?

I think all the "Jap" trucks are actually made here-- except perhaps the Ridgeline.


Can't argue that but where are the profits for the Japaneese vehicles built here going ?

 

I understood exactly what he meant. This has been pretty much a standard CTD lovefest. No new information passed on. He was also dead on the money. The failure of a vehicle to perform in any given situation rests almost entirely with the person placing that vehicle in the situation.

The Japanese trucks are good little trucks, just like a CTD, D-Max or Ford, "When operated within their design parameters." He was also correct when he stated that his CTD would be overmatched should he choose to move a CAT D6 with it. I've moved D6's, D4's, 950's, TD25's and quite a few others but I used Internationals and Freightliners with 'Detroits'.

What is constantly overlooked is the fact Dodge, Ford and GM are all powering their light duty trucks with medium duty engines. That is the key to the ability of these trucks to pull heavy loads.

Question: Uniflow Diesel? Does it ring any bells? You should have seen their bobtail trucks. They are common. You can recognize them by the UD on the front. Who are they? Why they are the truck manufacturing arm of Nissan.

What is to prevent Nissan, with a fistfull of it's own well prooven medium duty engines, from building a true fullsize dually and dropping them in. Nissan is already in position should it choose to go head to head against Ford and GM with pickups not only in the F250 and F350 classes but on up through F450, F550, F650, F750 etc. Further, it currently manufactures the complete drivetrains. It would not have to go outside the company for anything. Not even the engine brake. Remember these bobtails as well as their heavy tractors are in service around the world.

With this class of vehicle being the most lucrative, Japanese manufacturers will not concede it much longer. They have already begun to make inroads in the fullsize vehicle market. Toyota has won it's first NASCAR race.

The "JAP" thing. It is old and tiresome. A few years ago I had an uncle tag along with me to a Sears. He was a WWll Vet. We were standing less than 10 feet from a Japanese woman and her teenage daughter when he went into his act.The more I told him to turn it off the louder he said 'JAP'. I ended up apologizing profusely. I have never been more embarrassed.

On August 14th the war will have been over for 62 years. My uncle passed two years ago this fall. It is time to move on.

 

Oh, I'm not so sure WWII IS over quite yet(the Japs are still bombing us with their crap), and as in any war...NO ONE ever really 'wins'...but that's for another thread...[/QUOTE]


Many among us are still carrying on personal battles. Some can't like Japanese brands because of war hatred and try to make a case of poor quality through those eyes. To simply state that light trucks are bad because they can't do what a Cummins can, or because they are not made here, doesn't make sense. At least not to me. The Japanese are very good engineers and some of their products are made here.

As mentioned earlier, Toyotas (a Japanese brand) are built in the US and they may have the best overall quality of any truck brand. Profits are going to the American workers and taxes are being paid to the local cities or states. Some of the Dodge profits (at least till now) have been going to Daimler and to Mexico.

I don't want to base a quality argument, or a reason to buy, on the country receiving profit. I've been a Dodge man and a diesel nut for a long time so if Mexico benefits from me getting a CTD, so be it. And I can't hate Hondas because of the war. If owners want to exagerate about what a Honda can do it doesn't take away from what a CTD really can do.

As far as "real" trucks are concerned, real to me only refers to being able to easily do what I need done. My Dodge would not be considered real by me if I wanted over the road tractor trailer performance or hauling ore in open pit mining. It would be an unusable toy. A Tacoma would not be a good choice to haul my tractor over the Sonora pass. But if I only wanted to get a few cans of paint and make a dump run, it would be very heavy duty. And a Ridgeline would probably haul my granddaughters to school and bring home some groceries, in snowy weather, without breaking an axle. It could be a nice "heavy duty" choice compared to a car.

If someone wants to boycott foreign brands from a specific country, that's fine. Those that do, might be more effective with their boycott if they were honest enough to give some real reasons why it makes sense. Reasons that the rest of us can understand and join them in believing.


John

 

The "JAP" thing. It is old and tiresome. A few years ago I had an uncle tag along with me to a Sears. He was a WWll Vet. We were standing less than 10 feet from a Japanese woman and her teenage daughter when he went into his act.The more I told him to turn it off the louder he said 'JAP'. I ended up apologizing profusely. I have never been more embarrassed.

On August 14th the war will have been over for 62 years. My uncle passed two years ago this fall. It is time to move on.[/QUOTE]





Well said.

 

Amen, brother.

 

Its just unreal on how hard headed and naive people can be. With statements like dang Jap trucks when im sure you have AMERICAN designers working on them as well considering they are built here.

OK maybe not ALL profits go here but atleast AMERICAN workers are supporting their families building these JAP trucks HERE, where as you have OUR trucks where no taxes nor american workers are being paid to build, kind of ironic to say BUY AMERICAN isnt it?

Also I have seen PLENTY of VET plates on the back of Toyotas, Nissans, and Hondas so no not all Vets hate Jap cars.

Heck every truck stop I have Big truck drivers asking me if my truck pulls my 3/4 car trailer alright and say yup gets me here and there no problems and they are just like REALLY? I say yes really, so here they think my truck is overrated and overloaded OMG someone thinks the CTD is overrated and overloaded!!

 

I'm not trying to start some American brand war - but who in their right mind would pick ANY daily driver made in the USA over a Honda/Toyota?

Yes, diesels are in a different league because of their longevity.

But when I see Honda owners driving 1982 Accords that still get 26mpg and run perfect....

Find me a Chevette or Cavalier...

Taurus or Towncar

New Yorker or K car...

You know?

Honda makes the best car on earth...

I've owned several...

And they are all on the road now...

With over 200,000 miles and running STRONG.

 

FWIW, i think the connotation of the word "Jap" has lost it WW2 meaning on the new generation, and it is more used to con notate a "rice burner" vice a V8 or large displacement motored - vehicle, probably of US labeling (despite the country of origin being Mexico/canada)

it's very blurry when you look at the details of who/where/when owns/makes/builds/profits from vehicles.

this is what i am wondering when i see a foreign truck that looks overloaded.

the Japanese products have been awesome since the 1970's.

their car & motorcycle engines set the standards for longevity, ease of service and length of service versus maintenance required

FWIW, I have a 2006 and a 2007 Harley. Neither hardly runs. on the bike trip, mentioned in the first post, I took the 2006, and it died about 5 times on this trip.

a buddy's son rode a 1978 KZ650, and he dropped it twice, and wrecked it once. Guess what? even after the wreck, with parts smashed on the engine (points cover) it RAN and NEVER died on him.


even now, with foreign cars being built on US soil, the foreign cars seem to be more efficient and last longer than US branded cars.

you can't argue that example any more strongly than two words: Ford Taurus.



so, it begs the question, why don't they overbuild their "light duty" trucks to last as long and be as useful as their passenger cars?
(like the one guy posted, the springs sag when overworked)

i think the Uniflow Diesel maybe next, they may be poising to attack this market segment.

 

[QUOTE=04ctd;1633237]FWIW, i think the connotation of the word "Jap" has lost it WW2 meaning on the new generation, and it is more used to con notate a "rice burner" vice a V8 or large displacement motored - vehicle, probably of US labeling (despite the country of origin being Mexico/canada)


It's no different than other words that indicate the skin color or country of origin in a way that means do degrade or show hate. It's inflamatory and takes away from what otherwise might be a good argument by causing the reader to decide if he's with you or not on that issue BEFORE he can hear your "facts". It divides in a weak attempt to unite. It isolates the writer.


John

 

I know many K cars that are still running at hundreds of thousands of miles and still whoopin it up at the race track!

Its all in how you treat the car.. just so happens to be americans are do it yourself'ers and tend to not maintain their vehicles a whole lot.

People that buy hondas, well, run to the shop when they hear a squeak from a piece of plastic.

Hard to compare reliability of vehicles when the customer base is so diverse and can skew the numbers greatly.

Its like saying we should all drive school buses because they are rarely in accidents.

 

I've agreed with everything you said, especially this post.
What suprises me is a moderator hasn't stepped in to change the language. Either they haven't read this thread, or ???
I've noticed several threads with this kind of language that doesn't get flagged or edited. Seems odd.