Mechanics Creeper

JMT

JMT

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What’s a good recommendation for a mechanics creeper? I have a Pittsburgh I bought through Harbor Freight, but the wheel on the middle in one side broke out of the plastic support and now the other side broke (not surprisingly). I’m leery of that style, but I do like the bin on the side for holding tools. What do you guys use/suggest? I’m 5’6” and weigh 170lb.

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I've had good luck with GearWrench products over the years, so a few months back, when in the market for a new creeper, I bought theirs. It's similar to the Harbor Freight one you posted, but at three times the cost, so I hope it was worth it. The creeper I replaced was about 25 years old. It was the steel frame design, and I had no issues with it. I opted for plastic because it's lighter (I set it vertically against a wall when not in use), and the tendinitis and arthritis I have affects my decision-making these days. I really can't say if the GearWrench one is better than the Harbor Freight, yet, so this reply may be pretty useless to you. If so, I apologize...
 
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I have the same one. My casters didn't break out of the plastic, but the wheels got tweaked enough to let the little balls out of the bearing and eventually the two middle wheels both separated from the plate. I think I bought it in 2019 or 2020. I'm not 100% opposed to getting another one (I also enjoy the trays) but I'm curious if there's something better out there before I buy. I'm somewhat willing to give it the benefit of the doubt because the house I was in for the first year I owned it had a really aged and rough floor surface so there was a lot more drag on the wheels, and I used it as an axle dolly for a fully assembled 44 on that floor. That's when the little bearing balls started showing up in the floor every now and then.

I did find this one, also at HF and about the same price, I kinda like the idea of the adjustable head support, but it lacks the trays, and being steel is a few pounds heavier. https://www.harborfreight.com/autom...y-creeper-with-adjustable-headrest-63311.html
 
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I have one of the HF ones like you posted and it's my second one since the plastic on the first snapped from my massive stature. I like it and have no significant complaints. Best bang for the buck.

I wanted one that would roll a bit better, that would be a bit softer so I bought the one below. I'm not at the point that I dislike it but I wouldn't say it's worth the money over the HF unit either. It rolls much better almost too well, it can be hard to reef on a difficult fastener without rolling yourself around. I also can more easily roll off of it as there aren't sides holding me on. It's also much heavier to carry around than the HF unit.

A major reason I got it was also so that I could comfortably sit up underneath the rig as the new build is a bit higher and I figure I'll be under it quite a bit. Raising the back rest was handy when underneath the frame grinding out old brackets.

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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004K7F8PQ/?tag=wranglerorg-20
 
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I've got the Pittsburgh creeper. Bought it because of the tool/parts bin, 6 roller suspension and light weight. It's worked fine and rolls easily though I'm a lightweight user. Complaint is the hard body without padding doesn't always get along with my body contours. Debated on buying the Pittsburgh over the padded Icon creeper at nearly twice the price, went cheap but wish I'd gone for comfort. 37-in-400-lb-capacity-premium-creeper-black-58588.html Had a metal railed 4 castor padded creeper that was comfortable but didn't roll well and had no tool/parts trays. It got left behind in the move and didn't want to replace it with the same.
 
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I've been using a Northern Tool creeper for many years, just like that minus the tool/part pockets. That's OK, I wouldn't know how to act if I wasn't thrashing around under my Jeep trying to find my scattered tools and parts.
 
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roverhi said:
I've got the Pittsburgh creeper. Bought it because of the tool/parts bin, 6 roller suspension and light weight. It's worked fine and rolls easily though I'm a lightweight user. Complaint is the hard body without padding doesn't always get along with my body contours. Debated on buying the Pittsburgh over the padded Icon creeper at nearly twice the price, went cheap but wish I'd gone for comfort. 37-in-400-lb-capacity-premium-creeper-black-58588.html Had a metal railed 4 castor padded creeper that was comfortable but didn't roll well and had no tool/parts trays. It got left behind in the move and didn't want to replace it with the same.
Click to expand...

That padded icon may be the ticket. Thanks!
 
 
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JMT said:
I think I’ll do a separate tool creeper.

These two together look ideal.

https://m.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200947981_200947981

https://www.harborfreight.com/37-in-400-lb-capacity-premium-creeper-black-58588.html?ccdenc=eyJjb2RlIjoiNTE3NDQ4NTUiLCJza3UiOiI1ODU4OCIsImlzIjoiNzQuOTkiLCJwcm9kdWN0X2lk IjoiMTc0ODUifQ==
Click to expand...

You may know already, but HF has a very similar tool creeper, $5 less and only 1 stop...

https://www.harborfreight.com/autom...sories/creepers-seats/tool-creeper-56155.html

I have a local HF but there are about 700,000 people between me and the nearest Northern Tool so I don't often make that trip.
 
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JMT said:
No, but that’s interesting
Click to expand...

That *is* interesting. I've never bought a creeper because they take too much room under the vehicle - I'm always wedged in someplace that would be completely inaccessible if I were on a conventional one. I can see that you'd have to plan your move so you wouldn't run out of creeper at the wrong place, but I imagine that a bit of practice would mostly mitigate that.

I'll have to think about it a bit...
 
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