Featured Projects I bought a new creeper

I still use a flattened cardboard box as a creeper - old habits

 

"Youth is wasted on the young".

 

I've always used cardboard at home; works good and makes it easy to slide around under a car.

 

I agree... the price is nuts.

The sad part is that I am struggling to find a middle-ground roll-around stool. Most of the stuff that is for sale gets 80% great reviews, probably from people that only use the stool once a month. The other 20% of the reviews point out the failing castors, poor build quality out-of-the-box, or poor design (easy to overbalance). I hate buying plastic-y stuff that has a limited life, but equally don't like the idea of selling both kidneys to afford a shop stool.

I suspect I will have to take my chances, and buy something like the Vevor stool. If the castors crap out, replace them with industrial quality ones.

VEVOR Rolling Shop Stool, Heavy-Duty Pneumatic Garage Seat with 300 lbs Capacity, Adjustable Height Roller Creeper Seat, 360° Swivel Padded Workshop Stool with Casters, for Garage, Shop & Auto Repair | VEVOR US

Cheers,
Harv

 

My buddy had one similar to this at his garage condo. It was just the right height, well balanced, and not tippy like the round based seats. Should look for one for me.

 

I feel the roll around Stool with 5 plus
Wheels with wide wheel base pass seat are more stable , & wheels need to be around 2 1/2 diameter across..

Many Reviews are from Manufacture to sell & one that are Non aware of what quality is , user friendly ... This is the issue now Not being able to goto store & actually put your hands on,
& most of the Items @ H -F best not even wast $ unless in a bind .
Veary few off there tools are decent.

 

Hello,

When I was underneath my brother’s 1958 Impala changing the Positraction third member out of the rear axle housing, I was laying on an old bed comforter my mom gave to me. At least it was somewhat padded and kept the cold concrete pad from my back as I slid around doing the weekly exchange of the units. It was from a 3:55 to a 4:11 Positraction unit, then the 4:11 to a 4:56 Positraction unit my brother bought to be more competitive in the racing class.

Not only did my brother want the rear axle exchange taken place weekly, but he wanted it to be done on a Thursday afterschool/night until finished. That way he could drive to school on Friday and be ready for all comers Friday night hot rod activities and Saturday drag racing at nearby Lion’s Dragstrip.

He knew that the 4:11 Positraction was good for daily driving to school and all cruising activities including going to the beach and up into the local mountains. But, for racing, the top racers were all using the legal 4:56 Positraction unit that was sold at the parts department. Once that was discovered, now, the trophy horde was starting to fil up our trophy bookcase areaat home. All cars in the class had to be the same and it was all up to the quickness of the start as to who would win the eliminations.


Jnaki

So, what did a kid do on Thursday afterschool? First, it was an honor to be able to drive the Impala around the block and head into the concrete pad in front of our garage. No, I could not do the exchange inside of the garage, due to our dad’s Buick coming home around 5-6 p.m. He had to have his spot ready and access free. Old age, bad back, wide doors opening for easy access… we all know the old age maladies. Ha!

So, I had to wait. But now, I was on the cold concrete floor doing all of the axle pulling, unbolting an overabundance of nuts to get the third member out. The new one was sitting nearby, but the floor jack had to be used to plop out the old one, lower it to roll out from under the car and set aside in the backyard garage. It was a good thing we had a floor jack and had a nice concrete sidewalk to and from.

The creeper was a present from our dad, as he saw me squirming around on the comforter trying to complete the exchange. So, where was my brother during all this activity? He was inside playing his guitar and listening to music. It was a one “man” job as two teens under the car was crowded. Plus, he had an ulterior motive.

Our parents told him that he had to take me anywhere I wanted for my activities. Basketball practice/games, friend’s houses and back, the beach with my friends, etc. it was a routine that he did not like, but it had to be done. So, he used the rear axle exchange weekly as a payment for me to do the work and get results to my liking later.

Note:

If our dad had not brought home the Creeper, my young back would have been frozen through the comforter and aching all at the same time. The creeper was good to lay down on wood + the small pad for my head to actually see up into the top areas of the third member unit.

The good thing was I learned a ton of stuff. Organization, diligent work skills and easier functioning under the car on cold nights. I also liked doing the work… ha! So much for turning in homework on our Friday project at school. Yikes !!!

I kept that creeper from 1958 until well past 1998 and by then, it had been used for various "fix its," creeping or sliding on a concrete floor under safety jack stands...YRMV

 

You can also just use a jack, jackstands, sit on a milk create and put that money in your car.

 

I have one of those, and love it. The height is adjustable, which is great, since I'm taller than most.
My old Snap on stool was way too low and killed my back

 

I have one like that and it works well; I'm 5' 9" so it fits pretty good , rolls easy and is pretty stable.

 

Jeepers-Creeper on Halloween week yet !

 

I still use one of the old Snap On stools that are sprung with leaf spring type steel.....I guess I got my money's worth. I have had it for 40 plus years. I am getting ready to pay it off soon...

I have been using an old office chair under the lift lately. Kinda clunky, but it is comfy.

 

One of my buddy's friends dropped off a "fancy" roller chair at the garage. Looked like an steno chair without the back; didn't take long to find out why. Thing literally would roll out from under you if you leaned forward while working. Not well engineered at all. Hauled it off to the dumpster when no one was looking.

 

I use cardboard
But since we’re looking,

 

OUCH - I paid $2,995 for my new 1970 Road Runner and that included shipping..........
Power-Lift AeroCreeper – 18V
Regular price $2,898.00
Shipping calculated at checkout.

 

Me also - it insulates the cold garage floor too.
That one needs powered wheels and a joy stick like the mobility scooters.

 

Keep the ideas coming guys. This is shaping up to be an interesting project.

 

I've read all 3 pages of this thread. All I can say is, many of us are struggling with trying to keep playing this young mans game when we are no longer young.
Over the years, I have killed dozens of different creepers. The creepers built with wood don't last very long in a welding shop. The metal frame creepers don't last much longer, and with most of them, the wheels turn to junk pretty quickly, and there is still wood under that vinyl covering. The plastic ones melt really fast and tend to self feed the fires! I am back to using cardboard, it doesn't hurt so much to throw it away when it turns to crap, and fires on it burn out pretty quickly. Given my luck with the metal frame creeper wheels, I have never considered a rolling work stool. I had a friend help me for a couple of days, he brought one of those rolling height adjusting work stools in, he took it back home the next day.

There will be no hoist here. My garage has a basement garage under it, and an 8' ceiling over head under a 4 sided peaked roof. I was told by 3 different contractors 20 years ago it would be cheaper to build a new building then to raise the roof even a couple of feet, and there is not a car lift company that would consider a hoist in a garage with a basement, even when there is an 8" thick cement floor between the two levels. There is room here to put up a new building, but 20 years ago that would have cost over $50G. Not an option then, surely not an option now, even if I could still do it for the $50K.

Jacks and jack stands suck as well, but they still do work, for the few times I use them anymore. Between the years of abusing my body, the injuries from years of dumb experiences, and the aches and pains of growing older, and other health issues, I simply do not have much desire to work on much in the shop anymore. An oil change, or minor repair is about all that is going to happen, and those things better be spread apart with a few days between.

At my current age, I have outlived every male in my extended family that ever worked on their own cars, by nearly 10 years. I am perfectly content with being able to do what I feel like I want to do, and take the bigger things to the younger guys. I don't need to spend a lot of money on equipment so I can prove to myself or someone else I can still do something my body is telling me I shouldn't do. Its not giving up, its approaching things with wisdom that comes with the old age I've been able to reach.

That younger friend I taught how to do things years ago, needs to make a living in his shop too. He is the guy I go to when I need something more challenging then I am up to doing myself. He has some good kids he has taught well working for him too.

 

Spotted at the Henry Ford museum old car week. This sign board idea has to be the best use of an old wooden creeper. Also one of these garden seats are great. You can sit or kneel on it making the job easier.

 

One thing I’ve never liked about creepers is they never roll where you want them to. You’re always fighting which direction you want the stupid thing to go. Nothing like cardboard on a nice smooth concrete floor.