I somehow avoided the Harbor Freight jack stand recall?

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori) 05/20/2020 at 12:00 • Filed to: None

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When I first saw the recall I assumed I was doomed. I have two sets of HF jack stands and 1 set of Craftsman. (Yes, the Craftsman are far superior and after this I’ll probably go ahead and pick up another set.)

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Looks like my 2-ton set is Duralast branded and not covered under the recall. My 3-ton set is the “Heavy Duty” Pittsburg, but the PN is 62392 which is not covered under the recall. In fact the full text explicitly states that others marketed under the same name were tested and found to be fine.

Hooray?

Reading the full text of the recall it sounds like the problem is the pawl doesn’t fully engage, which causes the post to drop... sort of defeating the purpose of a jack stand. This seems like an easy thing to check (now that we know to look for it) for added peace of mind.

A lot of people are casting shade on HF and saying “OF COURSE you shouldn’t trust a jack stand made by them. Everything they make is crap!” And fair enough, it is, but we each apparently have different HF rules. My rules for Harbor Freight tools are not to buy if:

Need to use more than once

Has more than one moving part

Is powered

So basically if it is a power drill but I only think I’ll need it once, then it is OK. Otherwise is it a pass. Stuff like ratchets, breaker bars, and combination wrenches are generally fine.

Jack stands are not complicated devices and I’d generally trust that while I wouldn’t want to test one at its limit, if I’m using a 3-ton jack stand on a 2-ton car I’m probably within the limits of Chinesieum.

The nice thing about HF crap is it lets you buy weird, niche tools that you otherwise wouldn’t blow the money on. I was having trouble getting the supercharger tensioner out due to an inaccessible bolt, so I went to HF and bought everything that looked like it would help. It cost me $50 and one of the wrenches worked to get it out. That was $50 well spent, even if the wrench was one-time use.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 12:08

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I bought their High-Spec electric impact wrench and it changed my life... so I’m not going “mass condemnation”.

facw > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 12:10

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I have the HF 3-ton aluminum set, which isn’t included.

I’m not too worried about their safety. I’m sure they aren’t the highest possible quality, but they seem fine, and it’s not like other tool brands have never had a recall.

user314 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 12:13

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Sounds like Jiaxing Golden Roc Tools Co., Ltd was using tooling well past its limit (or they were using copies of copies of tooling all along ...) and skimping on the QC/QA.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > user314 05/20/2020 at 12:18

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I’m shocked, SHOCKED I tell you!

Oh wait. The opposite of that.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 12:18

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I missed this also, mainly because my sets of HF jack stands date from the late 90's/early 00's.

TheRealBicycleBuck > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 12:24

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There was some dis cussion some time back about the general safety of that style of jack stand. It’s easy to knock the lever and drop the stand on some of the designs.

ranwhenparked > user314 05/20/2020 at 12:29

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See, they should have gone with Wuyi Chuangfeng Tools Manufacturing Co., they make a quality product. 

user314 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 12:30

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Yes, but TBH I was more expecting the usual “made of and from parts unknown” more than “Was this tooling designed by Edvard Munch?”.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/20/2020 at 12:30

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I’ve thought about that before, but under load I feel like disengaging the pawl is a non issue. With the hook style shaft wouldn’t you need to essentially lift the entire vehicle to disengage? I guess I haven’t examined the mechanism but that was my assumption.

Edit: just looked at the picture and yeah those are flats not hooks.  Still feel like you’d be hard pressed to disengage with a car on them, but less to than a hooked one.

facw > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/20/2020 at 12:31

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Hmm, definitely with mine, if there’s weight on the jack, that lever’s not going anywhere. It needs to be unloaded before it will release. Not that I’d want to find out what happens if I accidentally kicked it, but it doesn’t feel like it should do anything.

jminer > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 12:41

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This is my opinion of Harbor Freight tools, good enough for most jobs if it isn’t a powered tool. Wrenches that are cheap enough to loose and not worry about it but work fine.

I’m definitely with you on the specialty tools, there are more in my garage than I’d be able to afford without harbor freight.

TheRealBicycleBuck > facw 05/20/2020 at 12:46

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I went with the standard pin type. It’s slower, but I don’t have to worry about bumping the lever. I don’t put the cars on stands often enough to make the extra time savings worth it.

Sovande > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 13:10

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Yeah, if it s failure could kill you, spend money on it.

Sovande > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 05/20/2020 at 13:13

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I borrowed a Milwaukee 18v impact wrench, the big one, and was convinced that no better tool has ever been created and that everyone should be given one at their 18th Birthday. A rite of passage - you have made it adulthood and your reward is easily loosening and tightening bolts with no cords, hoses or other impediments. 

My bird IS the word > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 13:15

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They are legally liable, so it is on their best interest not to kill you. I wouldn't really trust any jack stand and I usually double up with blocks under the wheels for my own claustrophobia.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Sovande 05/20/2020 at 13:23

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Yeah, I’m embarrassed it took me this long to figure out how much easier tire rotations and trailer replacements could be.

I always was averse to the air impact tools... but this electric unit will loosen the lugnuts off anything— even the  heavily corroded rears on my 1 Ton tow rig the other day. Easy meets Peasy.

StudyStudyStudy > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 13:51

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I think an important point they mentioned (if their press release  is  to be trusted completely) failure is only when unloaded, as in if it is not square and the weight shifts off then back on to it, it can disengage. Same I think could be said for all jack stands of this style , but my understanding is the mechanism doesn’t take as much to trigger these particular stands due to poor tooling .

I basically use ramps if I don’t need the wheel off, and if the wheel comes off it comes with me under the car. Doesn’t really matter the brand of jack or jackstand holding the car up.

I’m with you though, the number of very specific tools you can buy for way less will keep me going back.

RacinBob > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 13:51

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Ditto on Harbor Freight quality being OK. I buy a lot of their stuff and have yet to have a problem. A frie nd ownes a painting contracting firm in Colorado and one of their services is resurfacing log cabins. To do this they use a 4" hand grinder with a 3 inch wheel and he does a lot of these. Every tool he writes the date first used and when they die he records their life. After 30 to 4o grinders he found no difference between a dewalt, bosch or HF grinder.

I am not saying there are not better tools than HF, sure there are. But for the most part HF tools are good enough, 

PyramidHat > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 13:55

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I have 2 sets and one of them are in the recall, the other is not. If something was breaking or failing or if the legs splayed out or collapsed, that’d scare the piss out of me (I’m still a little scared). But this isn’t necessarily a design failure but rather a manufacturing defect. Regardless, new jack stands are in order.

As for electrical stuff, I hear that their DA polisher is actually a good value; can’t speak to the rest.

I get the overall thought of HF stuff and a lot of it is earned, but I wonder how much of  it is snobbery - if it ain’ t DeWalt (or Snap-On, or other well-known brand) then it’s shit.

PyramidHat > facw 05/20/2020 at 13:56

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This is the correct take.

PyramidHat > My bird IS the word 05/20/2020 at 13:58

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I keep the jack under the car with juuussst enough pressure on the undercarriage, as a safety.  

Michael > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 14:23

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I have a set of recalled, and a set of not-recalled.  I can tell on the recall set that one of the pawls is actually soft and bending over itself, curling at the edge.  The other 3 seem OK

Michael > Sovande 05/20/2020 at 14:25

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This is my set.

That’s Milwaukee’s finest “I don’t care what you say, you’re coming loose” tool. So long as you can get it to the bolt, the bolt comes loose

Sovande > Michael 05/20/2020 at 14:29

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I have a 1/4" impact and a small, 3/8" impact. And a drill, grinder and die grinder. I need to buy the giant impact - The Compensator.

I also want the 18v fan. And probably a bunch of other stuff. I like their tools. 

Michael > Sovande 05/20/2020 at 14:35

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I’d be happy with a M12 Hackzall and some ratchets.  Bigger stuff I still like having corded.  My buddy had the circular saw, I think, and if you overheat the battery with it, it disables that battery with the tool, it’ll never work again.

Sovande > Michael 05/20/2020 at 15:15

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I thought I would still like the corded stuff more too, but I find myself reaching for the cordless grinder more than the corded. 

Michael > Sovande 05/20/2020 at 15:32

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I’ll have to keep an eye on marketplace and list of craigs

Vlachen > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 15:44

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I think since the pawl rotates into the mechanism, and the pawl is located off the centerline of rotation , then the mechanism would have to lift up a little bit to disengage.

This is what we'll show whenever you publish anything on Kinja: > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/20/2020 at 17:55

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I don’t f around if I’m under the car. Jackstands, hydraulic floor jack, and if any tires came off they’re going under too.

Almost crush me once, shame on you...

facw > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 05/20/2020 at 20:32

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I got a cheap (for definitions of cheap that are still pretty expensive: $100 ) Ryobi 1/2" cordless electric impact wrench prior to doing my shocks/struts and am really glad I did. There was one nut it wasn’t strong enough to take off (though it was strong enough to round off the nut after I mangled it with my breaker bar), but I’m quite sure it made a lot of things way easier. And I got to feel like a pit-crew member, buzzing off lug bolts with ease.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > facw 05/20/2020 at 20:58

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You definitely feel like “Thor” vanquishing your thread-bound foes with a squeeze of a trigger.

facw > SBA Thanks You For All The Fish 05/20/2020 at 21:51

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Hmm, xkcd didn’t cover that one, but I think we can agree it’s mightier than a socket wrench :

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > facw 05/20/2020 at 21:55

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and all better than Hawkeye’s lame-ass Bow-and-Arrow...

fight me.

Richter12x2 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/21/2020 at 08:40

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They’re not terrible if you don’t need perfection. I used a Harbor Freight welder for about 8 years, and after a lot grinding, things were stuck together. The new welder is MUCH better, but it was fine. Angle grinders? At $20 a pop, I just buy one for grinder, one for cutting, one for wire wheel, and almost never need to change the head. I’ve put a lot of hours on them and just can’t justify a $200 DeWalt (which also likely comes from China now) .

Don’t get me wrong, they make lots of stuff too that I wouldn’t even consider, but for simple stuff, they’re fine.

Richter12x2 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/21/2020 at 08:43

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Especially if you’re using the little metal pin that came with it, like you should be, which prevents them from lifting.

Now, also, avoid jiggling and shaking ANYTHING that’s on jackstands while you’re under it or anyone else is under it. I typically use jackstands for support and a jack set JUST lower as backup. If they both fail, I guess it’s just my time to go!

Demon-Xanth knows how to operate a street. > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/21/2020 at 23:02

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Really don’t trust your life to these ones!

https://www.amazon.com/RC4WD-Z-S0588-Chubby-Stands-REPLICA/dp/B0086F7RMK/

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/22/2020 at 01:56

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Yeah, I won the HF lottery, too.  I’m not sure how, since I’ve got a few sets of their cheap-ass 3T stands.  But my number’s not on the board.

Old-Busted-Hotness > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/22/2020 at 07:19

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Their breaker bars are definitely not fine. I’m on my third one, just used for busting lug nuts loose; two of them cracked at the pivot pin.

The best thing about their hand tools is that you can modify them into specialty tools without feeling bad about ruining something nice. And even if you’re crap at welding, your crap weld is probably better than what they did at the factory.

Stef Schrader > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/22/2020 at 16:39

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I feel like that’s a lot harder to do under load, though? I’ve never had an issue with it on Lemons weekends, but that’s mostly been put car up > futz with wheels > put car down. Maybe I should invest in some pinny boiz for more involved under-car repairs? I’ve never had an issue with my Home Despot lever ones, though.

Alternately, air jacks? AIR JACKS. I’d love to go full overkill on “safety items,” hahahaha. (That l ack of funds, though.)

TheRealBicycleBuck > Stef Schrader 05/22/2020 at 17:32

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It should be more difficult to release it under load. In the lawsuit against Sears , the alleged mode of failure is a false engagement of the pawl, similar to how some transmissions failed to move into park and dropped into reverse.

I use a pair of pinned stands when I’m working on my cars. I also chock the wheels so it can’t roll forward or backward and I slide a wheel under the car just as an extra precaution. I’ve had a scissor jack fall over when I was changing a tire and the spare tire caught the car. Now I’m really suspicious about getting under any car that’s been lifted.

I can’t say I’ve ever seen anyone use air jacks to do work under the car. I thought those were just for the racy folks changing tires.

SBA Thanks You For All The Fish > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 05/23/2020 at 09:42

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I checked two sets of mine and got off clean.  Maybe they’re not as common as thought

Stef Schrader > TheRealBicycleBuck 05/23/2020 at 21:30

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I’ve seen the Fancy Teams up on the airboiz in the paddock before. I think regular jackstands go i n afterwards for safety’s sake. Much fast er to plop the car up with the air jacks, though.

The parsh’s usual chock is a chunk of wood. Bless you, wood, and thanks for keeping my car and myself from certain squishage.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > TheRealBicycleBuck 07/07/2020 at 15:46

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That’s why I always use concrete blocks and the wheel I just removed.