Harbor Freight Jack stand recall- sudden failure

flyarmyguns said:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/05/20/harbor-freight-jack-stands-recall-2020/5227291002/

Click to expand...

I always wondered why they called them "Harbor Fright"

I wonder how many people on here have actually experienced one failing

I have 2 pair and they have never given me a problem but I always make sure the lock is engaged before I put any weight on them

Sorry, it's terrible, but I laughed at it.

I got a set seem to workjustfine but I usually use the crapsman

I bought the 12 tons a while back for working on the excursion. Not sure if thats a good thing cuz they arent part of the recall, or a bad thing cuz if they fail its just more weight potential falling on me.

If you look on youtube, there are a couple of videos explaining what's going on. Basically when they made the teeth in the post, they did not cut them deep enough. And it also seems the square hole the post slides up and down is not formed very well.

So the catch has poor engagement in the teeth, and the post is a little wobbly. If the vehicle shifts while on the stand, the teeth can come out of the catch and it will drop.

That's the biggest problem with overseas products. They do not seem to have any quality checks and quality control. It just flies out the door regardless if it is made properly or not.

If you took a grinder and ground the teeth deeper, and then shimmed the hole tighter where the post runs up and down, I bet you could fix the jackstand problem.

That does it... I'm not ever going to use my Harbor Freight parachute again.

If you read the recall (I have) there are only a few model #'s in the recall. Not all 3 ton and 6 ton are included. I have used HF jack stands for over 10 years with no problem. In fact I just received another pair last week. Most professional mechanics I know don't trust this style (any brand) as the fear is the cast part of it cracking from abuse.

If you have problems with them I also found these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00026Z3DQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 that actually have a secondary "lock". I picked a couple of those and they are quite slick and only about $10 more than HF.

I use a huge mishmash of brands. Looks like most of the failures occur when they're extended very high and I don't do that with any brand, especially Harbor freight haha

I saw another meme that cracked me up. It said "if these harbor freight jack stands kill me, don't let them write in my obit that I died doing what I love. I HATE THIS ****"
hahhaha

Scary stuff