Nate Harrison Grade

bob91yj

bob91yj

Adventurist
Founding Member
Feels like it has been forever since I've been here. Long story short, I now have a Ford Ranger with the Tremor package. Machelle and I have never been up the Nate Harrison Grade, dirt road, goes up Palomar Mountain (Observatory) unknown condition...my guess is 4WD or AWD will make it with minimal issues. We hope to be on the road from north Escondido by 9AM or so. Any one interested in tagging along, let me know. I'm old, fat, cranky, for those that don't know me. I'll have my wife and two Boxer puppies along for the ride.
 
Wish I could go, it would be good to see you and Machelle.
 
Half way up is a stone monument dedicatwed to Nate, it is also where Nate Hairison's house is . unfortunately someone stole the brass plaque many years back
It's a very relaxing drive with beautiful views.

P.S. they also took the telescope for the observatory up that road
 
P.S. they also took the telescope for the observatory up that road

Not sure about that one, would not make sense bringing the second mirror up that way on a dirt road., The first one cracked and is sitting in Corning NY. Going up Nates is easy was up there the other day checking on some radio gear I have up there.
 
Seems like the Park Rangers and myself were missed informed. Nate's Grade must had been alot different back then.
 
Trip report...for those that don't know me, (I haven't been around as much as I'd like lately) I'm old, fat and grumpy, I'm not so much on taking pictures, Machelle took a few, I'll try to figure out how to post them.

Anyway, short story long...Ford gave new Ranger owners $500 in accessories, (we traded in our 2019Ranger for a 2021 Ranger with the Tremor package). I opted for the Ford Performance/ARB compressor in a tool box, and some fender vents (they came out bitchin'...back to the me/pictures thing).

We aired down to 20PSI once we hit the old remnants/broken pavement/dirt road for the Nate Harrison grade. (Nate Harrison was the first Black man to live free in San Diego county) We didn't really "need" to air down...back to the old/fat/grumpy...ride quality matters...or...I'm "allegedly" a tool junkie, never owned anything made by ARB, wanted to test the compressor.

I've been happy with the street ride quality of the Tremor package, (Fox shocks, reservoirs on the rear shocks, different leaf spring pack) compared to the 2019. The 2019 truck had a Fab Tech lift on it, Method wheels, White Knuckle rock rails (honest rock rails, not side steps with a 6" drop step that is a rock hangar looking for a place to happen) anyway, the guys at White Knuckle used the truck as a second round Beta tester, so I had those rock rails on it. I missed the boat on an impulse buy with the 2019 truck..it didn't have the factory rear locker...DOH!...nothing an Eaton E-Locker wouldn't fix. In the end, I was never truly happy with the truck, always had a harmonic/vibration at freeway speeds, shudder on take off from a stop (somewhat inherent on 2019 Rangers, Ford blames the pinion angle...I'm sure the 2"lift blocks made it worse. Typical aftermarket irritants, tires rubbed in sharp turns/through dips/driveways. Machelle and I decided that a stock, factory equipped truck would meet our needs quite nicely (once I get the front end leveled:rolleyes:), Ford came out with the Tremor package and it was a done deal.

First thing I did was take the "really...who designed the Tremor package Ranger side steps"...ugly as sin IMO (I work at a Ford dealership), and then the step that sticks out way too far is covered in "non-skid"...does a fine job of scraping the back of your calf when exiting the truck. Swapping the White Knuckle rock rails over to the new truck was part of the deal.

So, you've followed along this far, I'm completely off topic from where this thread started...might as well read the rest of the story...
Nate Harrison Grade is currently a 2WD rough road at best. If you're in the San Diego area, its a nice 1/2-3/4 day trip, take the dogs/kids/grandkids etc. The road comes out at the National Forest campground on Palomar Mt. Machelle and I chose to go back down the way we came up.

The ARB compressor itself is nice, this one just has one lung, still pretty fast airing up the Ranger tires...the $.50 air chuck that came with the unit literally fell apart on the first use...if ARB would have spent the $$$ on the "lock" on the air chuck instead of the engraved ARB logo that falls off in your hand, I would have been a bit more impressed. I was able to "fix it" 3 times to air up 4 tires.

So there you have it!
 
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