Kinda like “Bless your heart” in the south really means “fuck you?”

Cheap, yes. Fleets, not here. The closest rental office is 4.5 hours away.
This is rural Maine, land of moose, coyotes, and fisher cats, where the sheriff departments drive RAMs, not Chargers, winter starts in October and ends in May, and it’s the second poorest county in the US. Cheap does matter. Cheap sells.

“The Patriot and Compass? Why?”
Because they sell. LOTS. The others might be the standard for the brand, but I would guess - judging by how many I see on the road in my area (northern Maine) - they are cash cows for Jeep. Yes, there’s a fair amount of GCs, Wranglers, and Cherokees tooling around (as well as I swear…

Plus, if you as me, the GenII is the best looking of the series :)

In the last 5 years? 3 times that I specifically recall - twice with a pallet of wood pellets and once with five engine and three transmission cores. I also had one a few weeks ago with my V65 in the bed but that would have been easy (relatively) to unload if needed. The factory jack is rated for 2 tons, which if you…

In my state, theft of $500 or more is a felony...

OUCH! Damn, that thing is FAST. Sad to see the roll, fortunate it didn’t happen 1/4 mile earlier, that would have been one hell of a tumble... if he made it through the granite. Those rocks don’t like to move....

Most likely many will like it, which is why I made the specific that it wouldn’t work for me. I’ve had mid-sized trucks (Dakota), towed with a couple of GCs, and even had a Subie Baja for a few years. All things equal across the board, if I was looking for a mid-size, I would pass on the Ridgeline for the spare…

The only knowledge I have of cancellation is the stretch from 2002-2010 where sponsorship\finances were an issue. Weather has never been a cause for cancellation as far back as I can find. Hell, even if it was a blizzard, some dedicated New Englander would try to complete it in an XJ just so it didn’t get cancelled...…

Don’t forget that Uncle Frank did it 19 years ago at 6:40, that’s about a minute slower which is impressive. For both drivers...

Yeh, but your mountain can’t brag about this...

“Hurricane-force wind gusts are observed from the summit of the mountain on average of 110 days per year.

That’s a daily thing for me, I might as well leave it in the bed 24/7. Living where I do, theft wouldn’t be an issue, I have yet to see a moose finger a tire...
Since I get at least on flat a year due to the road conditions, my winch doesn’t get a chance to seize up. On the off chance that I go past a few months,…

You are fortunate, living where I do flats are an annual thing at best, though in the winter if bad enough for the plow trucks to run chains for the 4-5 months from Nov-April, then I can be assured to get a couple from broken links. We also end up replacing windshields every couple of years.

Or buy a truck that has one in a better spot so you don’t have to do foolish extra work because of a questionable design choice. I won’t even get into the logistics of hefting an 80# spare out of that hole, getting it to the tailgate, then chasing it as it bounces all over hell when it hits the pavement. While the…

Agreed, no time in the near future. All you have to do is look around and see how many trucks are out there with 3rd party beds on them.

The Ridgeline leaves me cold as a long time full-sized truck owner, but I think it is overall good for the segment to bring some legitimacy back to the mid-sized market and don’t see…

Ummm... I was with you all the way until “look hard at that D”
:P

^This. I’m more excited over the Durango than the Demon. I’ve been a GC driver for decades but if I can get the same basic package for less $, then I’m looking hard at the Durango.

Motor blahblahblah trim blahblahblah options blahblahblah price blahblahblah...

Damn, it’s pretty...

Pfft. For people like me, coffee is what helps me sleep like a baby. Nothing like a turbo-double-espresso right before bed help me drop right off into dreamland. 7000mg caffeine a day, keeps me calm and sane.

That GODDAMN SLIDING DOOR!!!
“BBBBBBBBZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ”

Checked.