Technical What is the best creeper you've found?

Exactly... I was just thinking about what it would take to make a headrest with an air bag suspension....

 

Ever see the one that pnumatically lifts you into position. .. I want one of those!

 

I've got a beautiful padded Snap-On creeper with the adjustable head rest and lots of wheels but it hasn't come out of the shed in 15 years because I don't have a shop to use it in. I have been known to dig large sheets of cardboard out of the bin at the furniture store on a regular basis though. That works well on the gravel out in my driveway and when they get dirty they go to the dump with the rest of the load and I find another piece.

One note, as nice as it is the rails on the Snap-On creepers with straight rails dig into your shoulders just outside of your shoulder blades if you are a large guy. Someone came out with a similar one with rails that dropped down by your shoulders that I would have bought at the time If I had seen them first.

 

Used a Bone for quite awhile, but never too happy about no headrest. Would still be using it if I hadn't had it hanging on the wall and knocked it down by accident, and it broke like a piece of glass. Saw all the videos, including one by Bone that made mention of a warranty and also had a website listed. Never knew there was a warranty, as a now ex-wife gave it to me and I never saw any paperwork. Think I'm gonna go visit that website as I still have what's left of the creeper!

 

Here's the one I'd like to steal...


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I'd like to have this one but it costs as much as my Roadster chassis!

 

Ahaha great minds think alike... Posted within seconds of each other!


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I've been using a 4' x 4' piece of Masonite peg board for years. I can't even tell which is the rough side any more, both look the same. It stores easily, cleans up nicely and things don't soak into it like cardboard will do. I have a couple of creepers that I will use if I have to slide under the center of the car to do something. Other than that they are more of a nuisance.

 

I also us masonite and a $5 Harbor Freight moving blanket. After a year or so, it gets oiled up and I toss it and get a new one. Another thing I use is a pair of old boogie boards. Dense foam pad is great for kneeling on when doing lug nuts, brake jobs or anything low on the outside of the vehicle. Also makes a great pillow when working under the car.

Never use my creeper. On a lowered vehicle on ramps, that few inches the creeper takes up always seems like a lot. Plus, it doesn't roll worth a damn on asphalt driveway.

 

I put on my old coveralls and get a buddy to spray them with Endust that way i get several things done at once: Hopefully solve the undercar problem and clean the floor !

 

I bought a set of Snap-on casters and installed them on my old 1973 Montgomery Ward $8.00 wooden creeper. It works as well as any high dollar one that I've tried.

 

Cardboard .....

 

Been using a Bone creeper, for quite some time.
Couple shortcomings....
The somewhat thin rubber "tire" peeled off of 2 casters in very little time. Replaced them with modified-to-fit conventional caster wheels.

Although not everyone would run across this problem, it's something to consider; the wheels tend to get stuck in the grooves that the poured concrete floor has every 10' or so.

Also, the wheels seem to run over an extension cord or trouble-light cord very easily, but not so easy to get back over it....... not sure of the cause, might be part of Murphy's Law.

 

I have one of those 6 wheeled steel framed ones with the adjustable head rest. It also had the hinged tool trays on the side. 2nd time I used it, one of the hinges let go on each of the trays. I was in the middle of a job so a good stomp from my size 12 work boot finished them off. It's really great for finding every air line, drop light cord and wrench I'm using.Sometimes I just hit the ground or grab a piece of masonite. I also have my fathers "Brookins Ease-Over" creeper, it looks exactly like the Red Head in the thread above. It's probably from the50's when he was at a L/M dealer. It's mostly for looks these days, he's been gone for 27 years and I don't have too much stuff to remember him by.

 

I have a low slung creeper, took off the original casters and put on regular swivel casters. Better, but the rubber wheels wouldn't swivel easily, so I made wheels out of aluminum (2" dia.) they are much better, now. But I'm thinking about a hyd. lift, too. Damn old age.

 

You guys using "cardboard" are rank amateurs !.... I graduated from that several years ago,... You know those big political sighs ? 4'X8' piece of corrugated plastic ?......

You can slide in and out,... twist around like a break dancer,.. and when your done,... you just pull it out with all your tools still on it !,..... Then add a empty one liter coke bottle with a little air out and the cap back on,... Covered in a old (But clean) sweat sock for under your neck !...... And were talking comfort !.....

Might just get a nap or two under there !.......

 

Might as well clean the floor while you're down there.

My problem starts when it's time to get up... I use a broom handle to get up.

I'm afraid the next time I grab the broom handle someone will start pushing me around the floor. Lol!

 

Did they ever get it on the market? All I can find is a 2 year old fund raiser site to try to get money to commercially produce it as it was a one off hand built.

 

I learned the hard way, don't hang a Bone up on a nail! It fell when bumped and one corner, including the wheel, broke off like it was glass! Maybe one day I'll look in to getting a new platform, as I still have the wheels.
Those Harbor Freight 6 wheeled molded plastic ones are cheap @ $20.00 when on sale and should work pretty good for a person not too heavy. I weigh 255#, and they sag in the middle just enough that they drag the floor on the underside and make maneuvering around difficult. I'm going to try adding a 3/8" or so spacer between caster base and body to raise it up slightly and see if that helps.
The steel framed 6 wheel ones ? The board underneath the vinyl is particle board and I've broken 2 of them. Exchanged the first for the 2nd, and promptly broke it! So I replaced particle board with plywood and I'm using it now, but the damn wheels mount with a single thru bolt that won't stay tight, which is aggravating.

 

I don't use creepers anymore,a old piece of carpet works better for me,my old bones and my hair!

I was alone in my shop and happy to have a day off so I decided to jack up the 40 sedan and get the car on jack stands both front and rear.

I needed to pull the drive shaft and replace the universal joints.

Since the weather was freezing outside I grabbed my old seldom used creeper and slid under the car,I removed the drive shaft and rolled out and proceeded to beat the old universals out.

I got them back in correctly and rolled back under the car,,slide the yoke back in the transmission with very little transmission loss,the rolled back the the rear and pushed rear of the drive shaft up in place.

I reached over to grab my wrench and this is were I realize I had left it on the work bench for some unknown reason..Damn!

I start to roll out and all of a sudden I fell a sharp pain to the back of my head.

Guys that know me know I have wore my hair a little long all my life,well this time my hair got wrapped around the wheel on the dolly..I couldn't go forward or backward or roll off I was stuck.

At that time there was no such thing as a cell phone and I laid there for a few minutes thinking it would be a few hours before my bride got home..what was I gonna do?

It was about this time I said to myself,,"your a dumb ass,pull out my pocket knife and start cutting"

That's exactly what I did.

What did I learn that day? Wear a stocking cap,forget the creeper,I don't like self inflicted pain and by all means,,SHARPEN THAT DULL POCKET KNIFE! HRP

 

I just started using a creeper now and then, it really helps with my back injury from my 2011 car accident. Like others say, getting up and down off the floor in any manner is a killer. I take a joint supplement which does help with my mobility. Busted ass on the '59 today, I will sleep well tonight!

HRP... gotta laugh. When I was doing alignments for a living, one place had a Bear rack and we had to use creepers under the cars to do the adjustments. I knew it was time for a haircut when I got my locks caught up in a wheel. Now the longest hair on my body is on my back...