Plews Tire Pressure Gauge

About Plews & Edelmann: A Century of Automotive Service Innovation

Few names in the automotive aftermarket carry the weight of history that Plews & Edelmann does. The story begins in 1909 in Chicago, when founder Erich Edelmann opened a wholesale business supplying air valves, steam gauges, and plumbing-related goods — and quickly pivoted to serve the booming automobile industry. Within just a few years, the company was offering early motorists essential service tools like tire gauges, grease guns, oil gauges, and battery hydrometers. That early instinct to follow the needs of the everyday vehicle owner would define the brand for more than a century.

A key chapter in the Plews & Edelmann story arrived in 1927, when R.G. Plews founded Plews Manufacturing and Sales Corporation, initially focused on oil cans for the railroad industry. As transportation shifted from rail to road, Plews shifted with it — expanding into funnels, measures, grease guns, and an ever-growing lineup of garage service tools. The 1970s brought the Plews division into the Edelmann family, uniting two complementary legacies under one roof. The two brands were formally merged as Plews/Edelmann in 1995, with the LubriMatic lubrication brand joining the family in 1996.

Today, Plews & Edelmann is headquartered in Dixon, Illinois, and operates as a leading designer, manufacturer, and distributor of a broad range of automotive parts and tools, serving mass merchant retailers, hardware stores, retail auto parts chains, and wholesale distribution outlets worldwide. The brand is perhaps best known in the modern era for its comprehensive power steering component lineup, but its roots in garage service equipment remain very much alive.

Trusted Tools for the Shop and the Driveway

The Plews product catalog is built around the practical needs of working mechanics and dedicated DIYers. Whether you're performing a routine oil change or tackling a stubborn fastener, Plews has a tool engineered for the job. Their drain pans are a staple of the home garage, offering durable, no-fuss fluid collection for oil changes and fluid flushes. For chassis and suspension maintenance, Plews grease fittings and grease guns make it easy to keep every lubrication point properly serviced — a job that directly extends the life of steering linkages, ball joints, and U-joints.

When a rusted bolt or seized component stands between you and a finished repair, Plews penetrating oil is the kind of shop staple that earns its place on every toolbox. And for the safety-conscious driver, their tire pressure gauges reflect the brand's long history — dating back to the very earliest days of the automotive aftermarket — of making precise, reliable measurement tools accessible to everyone.

Quality Built on More Than 115 Years of Experience

What sets Plews apart is not just longevity, but adaptability. The brand has evolved alongside the automotive industry through every major shift — from the era of hand-cranked engines to today's electric power steering systems. Through it all, the commitment to practical, well-built service tools has remained constant. For anyone who takes vehicle maintenance seriously, Plews & Edelmann represents a brand you can trust to perform when it matters most.