Re: [Chrysler300] Zerk Trivia !!

["Owen & Jo Grigg" <ram300@xxxx>]

Ummm, down under they're called "grease nipples", I kid you not. How do you
reckon they came by that name Wayne?
A mechanic friend of mine who went to the US to apply his trade, never lived
it down when he called your Zerks grease nipples.

Owen
Auckland, NZ

----- Original Message -----
From: Wayne Graefen <wgraefen@xxxx>
To: Intl 300 <Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, April 27, 2003 1:08 AM
Subject: [Chrysler300] Zerk Trivia !!


> Just a little bit of trivia about the "grease zerk" and why in the world
the thing got the name "zerk".
>
> Well it seems there was a man in Wisconsin who was looking to improve on
the truly antique style of lubrication fittings used on the early cars up
until about 1931 or 1932. Those were a much larger protruding fitting that
did not make a very good seal to a grease gun. They had two prong ears like
a park or tail light bulb and they were so large they occasionally got
broken off by road debris.
>
> This Wisconsinite was an inventor of sorts and he did design an improved
grease fitting. It was patented and very quickly adopted by the US auto
industry. The man's name was Otto Zerk. I wouldn't know this if I had not
been business partners with an older man from Wisconsin named Harold Jornt
(now deceased) who had known Otto personally in his younger years.
>
> And now you know the rest of the story....
>
> Wayne
>
>
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