Easy Creeper modification .. How to Polish a Turd ep.2

How to modify a Harbor Freight creeper so it lasts a long time
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[@69butternut.]

Thanks for this video. This is exactly what I was looking for. I just do work in the carpark of my building and need cheap tools for a short period of time. I was looking at these type of creepers and straight away saw reviews about the wheels. Do a quick search on how to modify them to last longer and bingo! Have now purchased one and a can of expanding foam.

[@johngregory4801]

Just got one myself. I'm off to grab the Great Stuff. Thankx for the hack!

[@superslyko123]

You're working too hard. Don't take the wheels off, just simply drill 1 hole on the edge, between the caster mounting bolts. Spray your Great Stuff in the hole, and you're done. Let it dry overnight, flat on its back, and you're golden. Great Stuff is $5 at Home Depot & I emptied the entire can in the creeper. I did mine and I'm 6'5" at 310 lbs. Works like a charm, it's solid as a rock, does not flex, and hasn't added any weight. Thank You Ganzo, you saved me some serious $$$.

[@ganzosworld524]

Haha yeah will probably do it that way on my next one. Had to add some gurth to the vid you know and also keep it clean. Thanks for the tip

[@ganzosworld524]

Going to be trying that method on my next one soon. So.etimes I get fancy and do extra lol

[@69butternut.]

Hey, just reading your comment here and have a question, if I may. When you say 'drill 1 hole on the edge' do you mean the outside edge on the approx 1 inch vertical side of the creeper?

[@superslyko123]

@@69butternut. Yup! Mine is still working like a charm. If I had to do it over again, I would simply flip it over and drill 1 hole 2" from each caster. Spread it around & fill the entire cavity. Work smarter not harder! Let the foam expand & dry for at least 1 day, and you're done. I love the hack & I love saving $$$ !!!! I'm just a weekend mechanic & see this lasting my entire life.

[@69butternut.]

@@superslyko123I ended up ordering one and it arrived with not assembled. Drilled holes near the caster mounts filled with as much foam as I could, moving the wand around inside and then put the casters on. Haven’t used it yet but seems nice and solid. I’m just a weekend mechanic too and love saving money and DIY.

[@ChattanoogaDan]

I just picked one of these up today. I will only use mine a few times each month for oil changes in general maintenance/repair bye vehicles. I'm definitely going to fill it with the foam. I imagine it'll last a long time, I probably won't be very hard on it.

[@ganzosworld524]

It should last ... just watch when setting it down on the floor because dropping to use really eats away at its life.

[@REVNUMANEWBERN]

Interesting, keep us posted on how long your fix works, would be good to find some much better wheel that would be a bolt on fix

[@ganzosworld524]

Definitely will .. have been using it daily since that vid and it still strong

[@philipfarnam6013]

I bought one of these. Agree, turd...with a capital T. Mine lasted for most of six 10-minute uses before the center wheel mountings caved in. Appreciate finding this idea for potential repair. May experiment.

[@ganzosworld524]

Lol yes they are ... be generous with the foam

[@philipfarnam6013]

@@ganzosworld524 FYI....took it back to HF today and they told me I'm SOL. Will try your method for repair...maybe add some JB weld to the mix. We shall see.

[@ganzosworld524]

@@philipfarnam6013 oh yeah that's a good idea. A good layer of plastic jb under the caster plus the foam 👌

[@philipfarnam6013]

@@ganzosworld524 FYI...repair attempted with foam and JB weld. I know how these products work...appropriate surface-prep and cure-time observed at each step. Caster mounts failed immediately upon first use. I'm throwing it out.

[@ganzosworld524]

@@philipfarnam6013 Well that's weird .. I wonder if the jb weakend the plastic ... 🤔 atleast you tried. Mine is still going strong

[@dreamcat4]

Hello. Instead of using the spray foam, how about pouring a load of epoxy into these cavities? Because after turning it upside-down, the contours would seems to keep that liquid in a lower pocket. Or another way could be orienting the creeper like this | vertically sideways. And then pouring in the epoxy. The reason I am considering this is because a hardening spray foam product expands using air bubbles. So it might then become brittle. And break or crack into smaller pieces over time. A bit like a honecomb or a hard biscuit. Wheras a poured epoxy should set to be just be 1 entirely solid piece. And then not compressible. And much more difficult to break into pieces internally. But Another thing I have been considering would be bracing externally. By making little metal brackets out of some pieces of aluminium. Because that is going to then interface to the plastic with a wider general surface. To maybe try to spread the point or pivoting (levering) load out sideways a bit more. And because aluminium is "somewhat" flexible, but also strong and durable. Such that it can still flex a bit with the plastic. But less so than the plastic alone by itself. Wheras a steel mounting plate / bracing plate / reinforcing plat. That would not flex nearly so much, and be more likely to then create some other new stress points or edges. That would just dig in to and try to stress the plastic elsewhere. So this is my plan. However I am also a bit dissapointed, truth be told: about the 2 hole design for the casters mounting. And the way it's been designed (as a rectangle) to flex more easily in the sideways direction than the forward-backward direction. I do not like this. Another thing I am wondering is if other than pure bulk epoxy. There can be instead anything else used or mixed in as a stronger filler material for this purpose. However I am not so great with the plastics knowledge. To know what else could be any better ideas. However (for example). What if we drilled a lot more holes around in this general area. To try to make a more robust interfacing surface for a poured filler? This would then be removing additional plastics shell however. But then again with enough hole you could probably also then drill a whole load of holes into whatever aluminium interface plat for the external. And have the same epoxy (or other filler material). To combine and integrate a whole lot better both of those (well all 3) structural elements. Like a much stronger interlocking. That is going to keep everything more tightly held together. And if epoxy is not the best one for this application, then maybe somebody can suggest here a different material. But also: moving onto the castors: If the metal aluminium interface plates gets extended to overhand significantly on either sides. Then that might permit enough space to actually mount (onto those aluminium plates). Some proper / better 4 point (4 holes mounts) castors. And then that would also help too. And somewhere was saved (a very long time ago) into my amazon cart some really better. Much more fancy castors. So I need to find those, to get the dimensions and see if they would be suitable. I know it sounds like a lot of work and faffing about. However the thing is that none of the other fancy creepers actually looks better. Unless you pay quite a lot more money. Like 5x the price. And this one is much lower height, which is important for the ergonomics. For the more difficult situations.

[@yaamothaa]

👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[@yader239]

One of my wheels broke. Does anybody knows where I could buy a replacement ?

[@ganzosworld524]

I don't think I have looked for any replacement wheels as the base is what always ends up breaking off. If any one will have it might be HF. Good luck 👍

[@eed5682]

I just checked today, and I couldn’t find an exact match at harbor freight. They have several 3” castors, just none that matched the bolt hole pattern. I bought one they had, thinking I could modify it, but decided on just buying a new creeper. One wheel was @ $4, and the fit of the new caster was going to be pretty poor. Wish they did sell the exact same castor, because I only needed one

[@bobbell5928]

Haven't bought one because reviews say center wheel mounts break. Do you think the foam will make it stronger?

[@ganzosworld524]

Yes, the foam increases the strength in ares applied. I have one going on 2 years now. It pays for it self pretty quick. One thing to watch for is how you set it on the ground, slamming or letting it drop will definitely shorten it's life specially the wheels and mounts as they are the first to contact the floor.

[@jkmarshall3553]

I've had mine for a couple of years... it has worked fine. Still going strong.