PSA: HF Jack Stands are not safe apparently

"ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability" (italianjobr53)
05/19/2020 at 15:55 • Filed to: harbor freight

A friend just received this.

DISCUSSION (30)

RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 16:05

general thoughts:

how did they figure this out? someone get squashed?

do we trust anything from HF ever again? d id we ever trust them?

if we don’t trust them, are the (most likely Chinese-made) budget alternatives any better?

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 16:07

My HF Rule is “never buy the cheapest grade” of their lines.

Not the cheap, shiny sockets.

Not the cheap, cool-looking $49 “all aluminum racing jack”. (don’t ask!)

Not the basic jackstands...

I’m surprised we don’t get deluged with this consent-decree warning notices from them, frankly.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/19/2020 at 16:09

I someone have Walmart jack stand and they've been working fine till now....

Cash Rewards > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish
05/19/2020 at 16:09

The rule I always was related to any spinning power tool: buy the tool or the safety gear from HF, but not both

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire
05/19/2020 at 16:10

I hope no one got squished...

I trust them for non critical, not safety related stuff: sockets, wrenches (not torque wrenches), hydraulic jack etc. The worst that can happen with my HF tool is that the jack fails and the car slams on the ground, not a big issue imo

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > RiceRocketeer Extraordinaire
05/19/2020 at 16:12

eh... as a rule...i dont trust any jacks or jackstands from any brand

i always have a safety log...or wheel... something solid in case of shitty jack failure that will at least hold the car up high enough to not squish me bad

Pickup_man > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 16:12

Thanks for this, while I’m not usually a fan of buying anything cheap related to safety I’ve got a handful of these that were given to me as gifts, so I wouldn’t have gotten the letter. They’ve always seemed like sturdy jack stands to me but I’ll have to take a look at these when I get home. Sounds like it’s still pretty low risk but I’m curious if there’s a way to lock them in place to prevent this.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Pickup_man
05/19/2020 at 16:13

My friend is gonna weld his.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
05/19/2020 at 16:14

This

I usually have a wheel logged underneath the car

My bird IS the word > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 16:14

Kinja'd!!!

Long_Voyager94 > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
05/19/2020 at 16:18

This.
I always combine jack stands + vehicle wheel/tire under when working under things.

Saved my ass when my jackstands tipped over in the driveway with the van on it mid engine swap.

Pickup_man > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 16:22

https://oemdtc.com/4752/jack-stand-may-collapse-under-load-pittsburgh-automotive-3-ton-heavy-duty-steel-jack-stands

It sounds like the failure is insufficient engagement of the teeth so I’m not sure what a person could weld that will fix this.

Good news is that this site, and others, are stating that HF will give you a gift card equal to the shelf price of the stands. Bad news is I’m not using that money to just buy new HF jack stands, and now I have to go to the store which I’ve been trying to avoid, what with the pandemic and all.

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > Pickup_man
05/19/2020 at 16:31

I’m guessing he is gonna weld the bit that comes out to the frame at the highest position until he get new stands

PyramidHat > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 16:32

[Thinks about being under a car completely suspended by HF jack stands]

Well. That’s goddamn terrifying. To be honest, my main failure concern was collapse - didn’t even think about the pawls disengaging.

ZHP Sparky, the 5th > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 16:39

Just read about this and came here to post on Oppo in case nobody had - thanks for sharing.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/buying-maintenance/a32600586/harbor-freight-jack-stands-recalled-for-risk-of-collapsing/

MM54 > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 16:41

I have a couple of their 3T jack stands but they are none of those model numbers (I checked)

ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability > MM54
05/19/2020 at 16:42

Wrench away!

TheRealBicycleBuck > farscythe - makin da cawfee!
05/19/2020 at 16:53

Belt and suspenders FTW!

UserNotFound > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 17:00

Well, my 3 ton jack stands are definitely on that list ... my 6 ton is not on that list but now I’m questioning if I want to scrap them all and get jack stands with locking safety pins like I’ve always felt like I should be using anyway ...

Boy I can’t wait until it’s time to put a lift in my garage and be done with jackstands forever.

nFamousCJ - Keeper of Stringbean, Gengars and a Deezul > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 17:06

Kinja'd!!!

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 17:10

I recommend taking these recalls serious ly. You don’t want to be like me and end up wearing your own car as a hat.

DC3 LS, Fuck Hyundai, now and forever > ItalianJobR53 - now with added 'MERICA and unreliability
05/19/2020 at 17:11

Interesting, affects 1 of mine , but I guess shame on me for thinking jackstands were one of those things that is so simple you can’t really fuck it up.