Looking for an extra truck for backroad driving. I've got a hiway truck, and need only to occasionally pull a boat or something equally light with the new truck I'm gonna buy. My old first gen toyota tundra was phenomenal for back road driving- it was smooth as butter. But, terrible gas mileage and hard to find one with low mileage. So, I'm comparing a nissan frontier vs titan vs honda ridgeline. Anyone have experience using any of these, and especially on rough back roads? I need primarily a good ride first, then vehicle druability, then good gas mileage. Help me pick a new truck!

Just get a Tacoma. The Chevy half tons ride nice too, that’s what I use for a hunting/trapping rig. They haul a snow machine fine, and they ride pretty smooth

what do you mean by a good ride and backroad driving ? Honda Ridgeline is like a suv with a truck bed.Would not be my choice.

Hard to beat a Toyota. Would be my choice or maybe a Ford Ranger.

Last time I rode in a tacoma it felt like a 1 ton truck suspension.Havent rode in one since about 1990

I mean a ride that doesnt beat you up and make you drive so slowly that you can't get a long line checked in a day.

the Honda is a unibody if that makes a difference to you

probably why the Honda ridgeline has a towing capacity of 5000 and the Nissan is 7130

A good friend of mine has a 2015 Tacoma that we’ve rode to work in many times, it rides really smooth. It only works comfortably for 3 guys though, with backpacks, boots, and a dog. Any more than that and it gets really crowded in there, it even works better for 2 and a dog. Which is why which is why we end up using my dodge for work even though it rides rough on logging roads, cab space

You can't compare a Titan to the other 2. It's a 5.6l V8, full size truck.

I’m going back to Ford on my next truck. Right now I’m in a 2012 Sierra 1500, before that a 2004 Silverado. I called them my Sunday church trucks. They drive nice, but fixing crap all the time.
Same with the 1 ton trucks at work, our Chevys don’t stand up, and we haven bought a Dodge 1 ton in 20 years…lol.
I know the 1 tons are built in different plants than the 1/2 tons, but the Fords still seem to hold up on the trails.

New Tacomas-pffftttt.....they are super tinny and plastic everywhere inside-noisy and crappy mileage-the hood scoop vibrates so bad up and down it's only a matter of time before the bouncing bends the hood. I had toyotas since 1982 and we beat the tar outta them in our younger days. They were good truck for what you are asking for-not anymore. I have owned probably 15-20( Tacomas and Tundras) of them-put on a ton of miles. If you're going with toyota get the older style not the new ones.Not sure on the Rangers-I am driving a new GMC Canyon AT4-beautiful truck-time will tell if it lasts I guess.

Look for early 2000's Chevy/GMC from the south.

I have 4 one ton dodges, they’ve been great to me. 3 are standard transmissions, one auto (still never had an issue, but it’s a 2013, so I think they had those issues sorted out by then). You can plan on injectors every 150,000 or so (more like 100,000 miles with Alaska diesel, it’s about 25% water)

I had a Tacoma with the off road package, and it rode like a lumber wagon. I would assume the ride would be better without that package.

Maybe this. Had a Ford Ranger that I used everywhere. Could fit down most forest trails and roads. Put a lot of miles on that little truck.

Shhh, you don't have to tell everyone.

The Toyota trucks in 1990-1994 were not Tacomas. I had both a 92 and a 94. I believe it was 1995 when Toyota came out with the T100, which is close but still not a Tacoma. edit: 1995 was the first year for the Tacoma.

My 1992 Toyota was an extended cab with a 3 inch lift. I ran 33” tires which put a strain on the 3.0 liter. The 5-speed helped.

Here's the only experience I can give you. I've been in the Honda and given the suspension setup on that Ridgeline it has what I would call a refined smooth ride like suv. If ride is most important I'd test drive that to start with and see if it feels like what you might want. Ride quality is a pretty subjective thing and you'd want to factor in what the road conditions are truly like where youre taking it. I know what I consider back roads here---basically just gravel with bumps---but that might not look anything like your back roads. I've been in other parts of the country where a backroad might routinely have a foot and half wash out across it , water crossings, large boulders, etc and engaging lockers might be in the cards. My thought is the Ridgeline isnt meant to beat on hard off road like the Nissans but would make a nice vehicle to run on secondary roads and decently maintained trails. I ran a suv for a trapline rig for quite awhile and my time riding in Honda seemed similar so I wouldnt be scared of it but perhaps its not durable enough in your country. And I spend everyday in a tacoma and cant imagine there is any way that Nissan can ride harsher so if the Honda has too low of clearance etc I wouldnt be scared of a Nissan

Thanks for the ideas. My back roads are terrible; wash outs, boulders etc. I'm looking for a suspension that will ride on relatively rough roads at a reasonable speed. My current tundra can only go 15 MPH down this type of road, whereas my '04 tundra would go down them at 40 MPH. I dont go on the wash-out roads at that seed, however.

The Titan has been discontinued. I have a friend who has a Frontier and loves it. It's not as beefy as a full size, so it depends on what you really want to do with it. I do like that it sits a little bit higher than some of the other similar trucks made by Chevy/GMC.