Harbor Freight Recall....danger

[3bears]

you could die

some of us use the harbor freight 6 ton jack stands...or the 3 ton
both are being recalled due to that they can collapse while in use...ouch

like ouch you can be dead,,,,,,,,,,,so check your stands.....

the 6ton #61197 built between 2013 and 2019

3 ton# 56371 or # 61196 built between 2012 and 2020

Im sure my 6 tons are in the recall....but they are in storage in Oregon....no harbor freights in alaska

 

[Team_Jake]

Never let your life depend on anything from Harbor Freight.

 

[LittleCaesar]

HF makes some great stuff but for some products there is no QC in the manufacturing process.

A friend had the ball joint tool and it cracked removing a UBJ on a Ford Taurus....

 

[TonyB66]

Thanks for sharing. I have HF and non-HF jack stands...

Harbor Freight recall: Jack stands recalled over safety concerns

I've always been big on redundancy, namely leaving the floor jack in place, under light load as a back-up. I also leave the wheel/tires on too, if appropriate...

I was never able to use these on our lower rides, but with the 4Runner, I use them a lot.

Amazon.com: Powerbuilt Alltrade 640912 Black 3 Ton, All-in-One Bottle Jack: Automotive

 

[MStudt]

and that's why I leave the tires on. Or, place them under the axle just in case this happens. Plus I've always been terrified of working under a vehicle supported by jack stands.

Mike

 

[3bears]

agree...i leave the wheels on if I can or slide them under truck. I leave the floor jack with a little pressure too.

 

[weekendclimber]

I was just using a set of these when doing the rear axle seals and bearings. Granted they were backup for the set that I had under the axles, but I'll be returning them as well. Interestingly, I've got two pairs of 6 tons and the second pair is a different part # that is not listed in the recall. Hmmmmm....:suspicious:

 

[Joelzy]

Mine are not listed but i wouldn't trust them 100% regardless. Always either leave the jack under it or tires on. But now, knowing this, i might reinforce them a tad just because i like tinkering and look for reasons to weld crap.

 

[weekendclimber]

Mine are not listed but i wouldn't trust them 100% regardless. Always either leave the jack under it or tires on. But now, knowing this, i might reinforce them a tad just because i like tinkering and look for reasons to weld crap.

Yeah, I didn't read the whole recall notice, so I'm not sure if they answered this in it. It would be nice to know what it is that is failing on these so us DIY'ers could go about fixing it or modifying non-recalled jack stands to beef them up.

 

[3bears]

Yeah, I didn't read the whole recall notice, so I'm not sure if they answered this in it. It would be nice to know what it is that is failing on these so us DIY'ers could go about fixing it or modifying non-recalled jack stands to beef them up.

supposedly the pin/pawl whatever that holds them up to the selected height.

however I did just read in another thread under general discussion of a guy that had one collapse from a broken weld and bring the rotor down on his leg....ouch

 

[turbodudey2]

It would be nice to know what it is that is failing on these so us DIY'ers could go about fixing it or modifying non-recalled jack stands to beef them up.

From this source:Harbor Freight Jack Stands Recalled for Failure Risk; Check Yours Now

In the case of the recalled Harbor Freight stands, the problem is not inherent to the design of the stands themselves. Instead, the retailer says that “aging of the tooling and inconsistent location indexing of the pawl armature hole” has led to a condition whereby “the ratchet teeth on the jack stand lifting extension inconsistently engage the pawl to sufficient depth.”

 

[sleepydad]

From this source:Harbor Freight Jack Stands Recalled for Failure Risk; Check Yours Now

In the case of the recalled Harbor Freight stands, the problem is not inherent to the design of the stands themselves. Instead, the retailer says that “aging of the tooling and inconsistent location indexing of the pawl armature hole” has led to a condition whereby “the ratchet teeth on the jack stand lifting extension inconsistently engage the pawl to sufficient depth.”

I had to run out and look @ mine because my truck is sitting up in the air on mine right now... whew my # is not listed
<a href="https://imgur.com/nX4XOmu"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/nX4XOmum.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

 

[SeaBassHWD]

I've always double/triple/quadruple protected anytime I go under. I had a buddy die over 20 yrs ago while he was working under his car. I quickly stopped just using the jack after that incident.

 

[mtbtim]

I wonder how many injuries or deaths have happened due to these jack stands. I guess enough for them to recall them. Maybe I'm a weirdo but I don't worry about working under a rig supported by jack stands. There's lots of things that can get us in this life and I have a feeling that if your life ended from a jack stand failing, you probably should have been playing the lottery because you definitely deified the odds big time. Sometimes it's really not all that ideal to have your tires under the rig or an extra set of jack stands in place because they get in the way of where you need to work. Quite often, when we're working in my garage filming a video, it looks like a tool bomb went off because there's tools everywhere on the ground under the rig.

Jack stands are a very safe piece of equipment to rely upon. It's the guys that aren't using jack stands and just supporting the rig with a hydraulic floor or bottle jack that are committing a Big No-No.

I felt compelled to respond with a different viewpoint because there seems to be a fairly high level of paranoia going on regarding the use of jack stands.

 

[bruised]

Glad I stopped by the forums today I have a set of 6 tons that thankfully are not part of it but I also always put tires and or another set of jacks under.

I figured exceeding the tonnage by 12x was enough safety factor for HF stuff but the previous poster is probably right, don't trust your life to harbor freight.

As a side note how have they not sent out an email or put a banner up on the site for this? It took me a few minutes just to find the official notice instead of blog articles.

 

[fourfive]

I know there are a few different styles/designs of jack stands on the market but the majority of what I've seen in a diy garage personally, youtube, online, etc all look like they were manufactured in the same place. Aside from the recall which sucks, what makes the HF jack stands worse than another company that has an identical version or is the general criticism regarding any jack stand that doesn't have a locking pin that goes through the ratchet bar?

 

[weekendclimber]

I wonder how many injuries or deaths have happened due to these jack stands. I guess enough for them to recall them. Maybe I'm a weirdo but I don't worry about working under a rig supported by jack stands. There's lots of things that can get us in this life and I have a feeling that if your life ended from a jack stand failing, you probably should have been playing the lottery because you definitely deified the odds big time. Sometimes it's really not all that ideal to have your tires under the rig or an extra set of jack stands in place because they get in the way of where you need to work. Quite often, when we're working in my garage filming a video, it looks like a tool bomb went off because there's tools everywhere on the ground under the rig.

Jack stands are a very safe piece of equipment to rely upon. It's the guys that aren't using jack stands and just supporting the rig with a hydraulic floor or bottle jack that are committing a Big No-No.

I felt compelled to respond with a different viewpoint because there seems to be a fairly high level of paranoia going on regarding the use of jack stands.

Very valid point. I think the issue with these seems to be that they are mechanically defective due to issues with their tooling. I'll be taking mine back, but have no qualms about replacing them with another set from HF. This recall actually makes me feel better about them as a company. :thumb3:

 

[Dieselchessy]

I have 4 of some brand (orange) 6 ton stands. They hold my diesel truck just fine. I’m sure just one would hold the 4runner if you could balance it.

I look at a few aspects when buying these things.
#1 I look at the catch pawl and it’s angle when jammed.
I want a steep angle 45deg or so.
#2 I look at the leg structure and welds. I want strength that looks like they will never splay out or bend if unevenly loaded.

I can imagine the issue with this recall is a short pawl or too deep of teeth, or too small of shaft causing a fairly flat pawl catch angle and allowing the shaft to squeeze by and bend the pawl down.
Should have been identified with QC checks and random testing to failure to confirm ratings.

 

[brillo_76]

So are they slipping the jaw or just splitting?

I could never figure out way they dont have safety pins. As you could have the pin slighty above if it was the jaw. The legs would have to be bad welds.

I have my 5 speed sitting on 12 ton jack stands. I think I have a set of 6 ton HF to check.


Also I wonder how many people used them wrong as well. As you have to make sure it latches before you put weight on it. If not it's coming down..



Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk

 

[TheDurk]

I had to run out and look @ mine because my truck is sitting up in the air on mine right now... whew my # is not listed
<a href="https://imgur.com/nX4XOmu"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/nX4XOmum.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>

Those are the same ones I have. I used four of them to hold up the body during my frame swap (see link in sig.) I always kept a few tree trunks in strategic locations and I did as little work underneath as possible until I put the wheels back on. I a try for triple redundancy when my life is on the line.