Harbor Freight Recall....danger

[jbtvt]

I have a set of the recalled ones, probably 5 years old. The major defect is in newer production runs but I'll probably still turn mine in. The teeth don't have much grab and on newer models the pawl wasn't aligned correctly so it was only catching a small section of the tooth and could slip out. Mine show pretty even wear across the teeth though -

Compare that tooth profile to an old school quality 3 ton

Or even a newer "Pro-lift" import model

I also always leave a jack with slight pressure under the lift point when possible, and if it'll be up a while I have a range of wood blocking from 12x12 down to 2x4 that I stack up as a safety. Some (probably fake) scene from one of the "Faces of Death" videos put the fear into me when I was a kid. But yea, no do-overs if a car falls on you.

 

[riot983]

Thanks for sharing, just brought mine back.:thanks:

 

[brillo_76]

Looks like I have 2 that need to go back. I also mostly use a jack or solid wood as safety's along with the jack stands.

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[Dieselchessy]

Jbtvt,

The pawl looks fairly bent in the picture looking down the barrel.

 

[TonyB66]

When I was kid, I recall a place that had mechanic's pit and I wanted one for the longest time afterwards. I think part of the reason was the nudies on the wall, lol...

There are some creative options out there. With the wheels/tires on:

Lift Stand Inc | Made in the USA

There's something comparable, but using the pinch welds...

Back to the HF jack stands, as someone said earlier, a concern is the quality - that of the steel used and craftsmanship (like welds). I've seen enough reports of shortcuts taken in the manufacturing processes in China to not be surprised.

Much of my career has involved counterfeit equipment, and the vast majority of identified CF had origins in China. We performed EFAs and such products were inferior by almost every measure, often by huge margins. An amazing amount of our RMAs were found to be CF. Buy through authorized channels to better ensure you're getting genuine equipment...

 

[jbtvt]

Jbtvt,

The pawl looks fairly bent in the picture looking down the barrel.

Maybe so. Looking closer at it in the light, even on these older ones the left side 1/8" or so of pawl doesn't appear to be making contact with the teeth. On some of the newer ones it was about half the total width not making contact. I'll def be returning them.

 

[Sarki]

Picked up 4 of these 6 ton Big Reds by Torin a few years back at Tractor Supply and they have worked well for me. They have a 2nd safety which helps give a bit of confidence but I do as many others have said and use multiple layers of safety when underneath a vehicle.

 

[brillo_76]

Picked up 4 of these 6 ton Big Reds by Torin a few years back at Tractor Supply and they have worked well for me. They have a 2nd safety which helps give a bit of confidence but I do as many others have said and use multiple layers of safety when underneath a vehicle.

Yes the safety clip is always an excellent idea. I seen other ones that have a pin as well that prevents movement. I just need to move to a lift or 2 then I wint need to use Jack stands etc. Anymore.

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[4x3Lander]

Wow, glad I saw this, because it confirms why I had the issue I did with mine last weekend while changing out the rear springs and shocks. The 4Runner would be on the stands for a bit, I would jack it up to assist with the suspension and the minute the weight came off one of the stands, the arm would drop. Had it happen twice.

Unfortunately though, I don’t know the model I have as I pitched the stickers and don’t have a receipt as I bought them about 6 months ago.

[MENTION=175921]TonyB66[/MENTION] I have that same jack and love it. Will probably buy another.

 

[3RDGENGuy]

I have the Pittsburgh model number 56372. Should I trust these? Idk


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[4x3Lander]

I'm not going to trust them going forward. I discovered I actually do have one of the affected models and emailed Harbor Freight to see if I could return them since I don't have a receipt.

Even if I can't, I am not using them anymore.

 

[4Runner4Leon]

Wow, this was timely. I don't have the HF jackstands, but I have four 6 ton jackstands that are close to 30 years old. So I figured I'll go have a look:

Guess who just ordered a set of the Torin Big Red stands?

 

[Sarki]

Never let your life depend on anything from Harbor Freight.

Probably the wisest post yet!
When it comes to getting under your rig, best option is to employ 2-3 levels of safety as pointed out by many in this thread.

 

[brillo_76]

Wow, this was timely. I don't have the HF jackstands, but I have four 6 ton jackstands that are close to 30 years old. So I figured I'll go have a look:

Guess who just ordered a set of the Torin Big Red stands?

Looks like a little wear after 30years..

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[4Runner4Leon]

Looks like a little wear after 30years..

Yup. I'm not complaining, I got good use out of them obviously. But I'm glad I had a look and noticed the severe wear on the pawl. It's not an area one would notice unless specifically looking for problems, like I did this time.

 

[brillo_76]

I took my 2 china freight Jack stands back. Just got gift card as I didnt want replacement ones. Always a good idea to check stand over like leon suggested. The china freight Jack stands maybe junk. However their Daytona jacks ste clones of the snap on Jack. I had one for years and works perfectly. There was even a lawsuit over the mfg of the Daytona Jack as they made the snap on Jack as well.

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[Danger Mouse]

would it be worthwhile for a moderator to make this a sticky temporarily so those who aren't on regularly see it. They can drop it later when it's had a better chance to warn those who might not notice it when it cycles through the posts?

 

[T.Q..]

Thanks for the heads up, they're actually on sale in this month's coupon.

 

[brillo_76]

Thanks for the heads up, they're actually on sale in this month's coupon.

Might be better to just buy better quality Jack stands from other suppliers. Many others are listed in this thread.

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[vonhughes]

This makes me want to go out and over do it with some of these 22-ton bad boys from ESCO.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200705284_200705284

Think they'd be tall enough, topping out at 20" like they do?