10 Pickup Trucks That Should Not Be Taken Off-Road

Updated on August 20, 2023: The ten pickups below are terrific trucks for the civilized roads and the average off-road trail, so it is a shame to let this list get lost in the shuffle. Therefore, we have decided to refresh it with new information and update it for those who want a great road-worthy pickup truck.

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10 Honda Ridgeline

Average Used Price: $32,919

Honda and pickups are two words rarely seen in the same sentence. The Honda Ridgeline aimed to freshen things up in a segment dominated by American and other Japanese carmakers with more experience in rugged off-roaders. Ground clearance is one of the most essential things for an off-road vehicle, and the Honda Ridgeline simply doesn’t have enough of it.

While about 9.0 inches is considered adequate for an off-road vehicle, the Honda Ridgeline comes with only 7.64 inches. The 17 and 18-inch tire sizes help keep the vehicle off the ground, but without the built-in clearance, the only thing that can help is a good aftermarket lift kit.

Specs And Features

This means that approach, departure, and break-over angles are abysmal compared to its competitors. The J35Y6 engine is a proven powertrain, but the lack of manually-selectable low gears is a big drawback. Many customers bought the Ridgeline because of Honda’s reliability record, but there were many complaints about problems with the transmission, differential, and tailgate.

9 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning

Average Used Price: $32,700

It’s obvious what the issue is here. The regular Ford F-150 may be a rugged workhorse, but the Lightning’s performance credentials make it unfit for any type of off-roading. Between the aggressive body kit, lack of all-wheel drive, low gears, and a transfer case, the F-150 is about as off-road-worthy as a Nissan Sentra. Which, of course, is what the Ford F-150 SVT Lightening is all about. It was designed to be an all-out street truck to take on the likes of the Dodge Ram SRT-10 and the Chevrolet Silverado 454 SS, as well as cars of the time, such as the Dodge Viper and the Chevrolet Impala SS.

Specs And Features

Its V-8 engine is derived from Ford’s modular design and is very similar to the one used in the S197 Mustang Shelby GT500 and Ford GT. It features a cast-iron block and forged steel internals, allowing for much more than the stock power figures. Models produced after the 2000 model year have more power and a lot more torque compared to versions produced in 1999 and 2000.

8 Dodge RAM SRT-10

Average Used Price: $26,800

It’s pretty much the same story as with the F-150 Lightning. Dodge took a rugged truck and turned it into a slammed performance truck. Daimler-Chrysler’s Performance Vehicle Operations gathered Dodge and Plymouth engineers for the project, which got the nickname “Viper truck.” That’s because the RAM SRT-10’s engine was taken straight out of a generation three Dodge Viper, and so were the wheels and color options. The honeycomb grill and hood scoop helped bring cool air into the engine to keep it from overheating, which allows it to operate at its full potential.

Specs And Features

The single-cab version was the sportiest and was even available with the Viper’s six-speed manual, while the quad-cab version only came with a four-speed automatic. Believe it or not, the Dodge RAM SRT-10 underwent extensive wind tunnel testing, resulting in a drag coefficient of 0.43 for the regular cab and 0.45 for the quad-cab.

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7 Hyundai Santa Cruz

Average Used Price: $25,795

In 2021, Hyundai, of all brands, gave us a compact pickup truck. The Santa Cruz shares a unibody chassis with the Hyundai Tucson crossover instead of the traditional ladder frame chassis like most pickups. It also shares the Tucson’s front-end design. The Tucson was never meant to be a rugged off-roader, which is also true for the Santa Cruz. It is a lifestyle pickup truck best used for light-duty and on-road driving. The Hyundai Santa Cruz is a pickup that drives like a car, but when it needs to be a truck, it can tow up to 5,000 pounds and haul 1,609 pounds when properly equipped.

Specs And Features

All-wheel-drive is optional for the base model and standard for the turbocharged engine. The Korean pickup truck doesn’t feature low gears but does have central differential locking. This allows the front-wheel drive vehicle to transfer up to 50 percent of the power to the rear tires to allow for better traction. The suspension system is set up with a strut suspension system in the front and an independent multi-link suspension in the back with self-leveling shocks to help the compact truck handle heavier loads.

6 Chevrolet SSR

Average Used Price: $24,500

The early 2000s were exciting times as neo-retro design was picking up. Each of the big American three gave us their interpretation of a classic car design, and this even spilled to the pickup truck segment. The Chevrolet SSR is as quirky as it gets for a number of reasons. This was the first pickup truck to feature retro-futuristic design, which was inspired by GM’s Advance Design trucks from the 1940s, particularly those made between 1947 and 1955.

Specs And Features

The SSR is also the only convertible pickup truck as it features a folding metal roof. Between the low ground clearance, lack of body cladding, and being offered exclusively as a rear-wheel drive model, the Chevy SSR is most comfortable on the road. If you ever had any doubts, just climb into the cockpit and check out all the standard amenities that point towards a luxury truck that should never get dirty, including leather seats and steering wheel.

5 Hummer H2 SUT

Average Used Price: $21,575

Between the terrible build quality, poor performance, abysmal fuel economy, and posh image, you would think the Hummer H2 has some serious off-road capabilities. Unfortunately, the H2 succeeded the mighty H1 only in name and nothing else. The Hummer has a 4×4, electronically-locking central differential, and low gears. However, the SUT is simply too heavy for its own good and has an abysmal break-over angle.

Specs And Features

In addition, the truck bed is incredibly small and practically useless. As with the regular Hummer H2, the H2 SUT is a posh 4×4 for people compensating for certain… shortcomings. If you want to spare yourself the shame of being seen in one of these, you best go for the H1 or an entirely different model.

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4 GMC Syclone

Average Used Price: $18,500

GMC’s Syclone may be a souped-up GMC Sonoma, but don’t let the humble roots fool you. At one point, this was the quickest American performance model in terms of 0 to 60 mph time, 4.3 seconds from a complete stop. In case you are not current with times for the early ’90s, the 1992 Porsche 911 could shoot from 0 to 60 in 5.5 seconds. The regular GMC Sonoma wasn’t intended for serious off-roading but instead as a light-duty pickup truck. This goes double for the GMC Syclone and its aggressive body kit that significantly reduces ground clearance.

Specs And Features

The Syclone, however, does retain all-wheel drive, unlike the aforementioned Ford Lightning and RAM SRT-10. The LB4’s power rating was severely underrated, and some dyno tests suggest at least 100 more horsepower than the factory claims, explaining how the Syclone could punish supercars of its day. Even today, many production ICE performance cars would fall to the GMC Syclone in a short eighth or quarter-mile run.

3 Subaru Baja

Average Used Price: $13,145

Not all pickup trucks are based on 4×4 chassis. Instead, they share underpinnings with light passenger vehicles. The Subaru Baja is a weird, “quad-cab” pickup that shares underpinnings and overall aesthetics with the Subaru Outback, which in turn is a more rugged version of the Subaru Outback station wagon. In typical Subaru fashion, the Baja came with permanent all-wheel drive and boxer engines, including a turbocharged version. Even though the Subaru Baja was designed with the off-road rally racing trucks of the Baja 1000 in mind, consumers in America and Canada never bought into the marketing hype.

Specs And Features

As with anything that’s based on a light passenger car, off-road capabilities are limited to light off-roading. The Baja features a central locking differential, which brings its all-terrain capabilities to above average, but there are no low gears. The front and rear overhangs suggest an abysmal approach and departure angle for an off-roader.

2 Lincoln Blackwood

Average Used Price: $12,435

Ford’s luxury arm, Lincoln, decided to introduce its own luxury version of the versatile F-150 pickup truck. The result was one of the worst sales flops in the brand’s history. The Blackwood, itself, looked like a mashup of different products from the blue oval, including the F-150’s crew cab, the front end of a Lincoln Navigator, and a heavily-carpeted F-150 interior that featured chrome, fake wood, and LED lighting. The ultimate utility vehicle, as Ford dubbed the Blackwood, was a combination of the versatility of a utility vehicle with the comfort of a luxury sedan.

Specs And Features

The 138.5-inch wheelbase wouldn’t be bad if it wasn’t for the less-than-adequate (for off-roading) ground clearance. This made for an abysmal break-over angle, and the complete lack of all-wheel drive meant the Blackwood was bound to be a pavement prowler. A few years later, GM made a better luxury SUT in the form of the Escalade EXT, but driving it off-road meant risking damaging the posh chrome.

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1 Subaru BRAT

Average Used Price: $10,200

Subaru’s glorious rally heritage spawned some interesting 4WD models. The quirkiest among them was, without a doubt, the BRAT. Produced in two generations, the BRAT was a compact pickup truck based on the Subaru Leone, which was actually the car that laid the foundation for Subaru’s future success in rallying. The BRAT’s most unique feature was the rear-facing jump seats in the truck bed. For all its quirkiness, the BRAT lacked serious off-road capabilities.

Specs And Features

Base models were front-wheel-drive only, and even the most powerful engine couldn’t break the 100-horsepower border. The ground clearance was identical to the Leone it was based on. On the plus side, the BRAT was extremely-lightweight, tipping the scales at 1,709 pounds (775 kg) for the first generation and 2,205 pounds (1,000 kg) for the second generation. This makes it a good candidate for rally racing because it can skim over rough terrain, but it makes it less capable off-road at average operating speeds because it has no weight to help with grip.