I saw this in an unfinished Roadster

[Ray]

I went to visit a local builder who is putting together his MK-IV and saw what first appeared to be an ABS unit on the drivers side "F"-panel. Looking closer, I found that it was a grease manifold with lines running to each zerk fitting on the entire front end. He also has one for the rear as well. Attach your grease gun to one fitting and lube every grease point on the entire front end of the car! He told me that his brother (or brother in-law) works for the company that services large multi-lube point machines and they use these.

Grease-02.jpgGrease-01.jpg

Thought is was pretty cool.....

Ray

[michael everson]

I would be very concerned that the grease would only flow to the path of least resistance.
mike

[rich grsc]

I would be very concerned that the grease would only flow to the path of least resistance.
mike

Exactly! I would not use such a setup, any fitting that has a higher resistance will never get any grease, same for the longest lines. Bad idea.

[DaleG]

I read in another thread recently (in which were highlighted similar concerns as above) that it somehow compensated for the longer runs and path of least resistance issues, and worked well.

[Gmcole92]

OMG...complete overkill. That might take the cake for the most unnecessary feature I have seen.

[christenfreedman]

Yeah came up recently...looks like same setup... Not the best idea in my opinion unless something that needs greasing daily and can control flow to specific location...as Jeff mentioned...they will inevitably not all get greased do to path of least resistance

[Doutie]

No, overkill is the 12 volt automated pump and distribution systems used on a lot of heavy equipment today. The system is expensive ( up to $10,000), but on machinery documented savings pay the bill. At one construction company where I worked, a salesman brought volumes of case studies to show we could save money.
The systems work very well when properly adjusted ( long circuits, short circuits, high or low resistance, all work). Our problem, is we wanted the operator to climb around the machine and grease it because then he's more likely to see cracks, leaks and other serious problem. The same is true for these cars and cars in general.
As long as it starts when you turn the key, Americans have become completely blind to the machine that they trust their life to.

[NukeMMC]

No, overkill is the 12 volt automated pump and distribution systems used on a lot of heavy equipment today. The system is expensive ( up to $10,000), but on machinery documented savings pay the bill. At one construction company where I worked, a salesman brought volumes of case studies to show we could save money.
The systems work very well when properly adjusted ( long circuits, short circuits, high or low resistance, all work). Our problem, is we wanted the operator to climb around the machine and grease it because then he's more likely to see cracks, leaks and other serious problem. The same is true for these cars and cars in general.
As long as it starts when you turn the key, Americans have become completely blind to the machine that they trust their life to.

EXACTLY!!!!

Just like a pilot doing a pre-flight walk, you should get "intimate" with your vehicle periodically. You will surprise yourself at what you find and be even more amazed at how well the car lasts and runs.

We used remote lube lines on lots of industrial equipment, like fans and fabric rolls on paper machines. Lube manifolds were on submarine for external items like rudder and stern planes bearings. On a manifold like the one in the OP pic, it would be simplest to just have a setscrew "valve" on each line. That way you could inject each location individually with the correct amount of grease. As much movement as some locations get, though, I have to wonder how long those nylon lines would last.

[edwardb]

Agreed, a lot of trouble (and $$$) for something that only needs to be done once or twice a year.

Having said that, I've probably got several things (at least) on my builds that I wouldn't want pictured and critiqued on the forum. To each his own.

[68GT500MAN]

Not saying that it is necessary, but the idea is good. We use them on ALL of the new farm tractors that the company buys and they work great.
Doug

[3yearplan]

We use them where I work, automotive stamping plant, and they do work great when adjusted properly. I've seen some of those nylon lines in use for almost 20 years. But for a weekend car, no thank you. I'll stick to the KISS principal.